morning

Ar-Ram and Qalandiya AM Sat. 03/01/04 Watchers: Viki B, Vivi S, Nurit L and Michal M Both checkpoints of E-Ram and Qalandiya were flowing steadily. The stands for selling merchandise have returned and it was crowded. Ages for passing were under 16 and over 50. Children under 16 must present their original birth certificates. Not much was happening. Three men detained for checking after being caught in the Tora Bora. Their IDs had been lost by the soldiers. Taxi drivers said that everything was going OK but reported that one of the female soldiers had torn the jacket of a woman the day before when she denied her passage. The taxi driver told us that it would cost 150 shekels for the drive from Qalandiya to Abu Dis along the back road, while to go to Surda would be 40 shekels. We went along the back road that is parallel to the E-Ram checkpoint (between Beit Hanina and the West Bank) to investigate the area of the reported beatings. We walked along the road, it was empty except for a man standing next to his vehicle. We approached and asked him how things were going. He told us that he had been stopped earlier and border police had taken his ID and told him to wait back on the road alone. There was no one around. We found another jeep of border police and asked them to look into it. They called ahead on their radio. The soldier on the other end said that he had the ID but he wanted him to wait and get exhausted. He had already been waiting for two hours. So the soldiers with us told him to bring the ID. Within one minute the other jeep showed up and over the load speaker told this man (about 50 years old) to approach. We were the only people there, there was no need to use the amplifier. A soldier jumped out of the back and yelled at this man to get in. We were all confused, they had said they were going to return the ID. The soldiers just shouted orders at this man, who obeyed without resistance but looked to us in a panic. One of us shouted to the soldiers "What are you doing with him?" The soldier just turned on us and said in Hebrew "We are taking him for interrogation in Atarot." Again we asked what this man did and the same soldier replied "He entered our land and he has no reason to be there." And then they slammed the doors and drove off. It all happened in a matter of seconds. We were so stunned and caught off guard. We didn't even get the jeep number or this man's name. He works for a private citizen and doesn't have a permit although he lives next door practically. MM was standing next to the other jeep at the time and overheard the soldier from the jeep that just drove off call on the radio and instruct the soldiers not to speak with us anymore under any circumstance and to get rid of us. Just before the soldiers arrived we gave him a card for the Moked. Otherwise, we went along the road by Anata and spoke with a few students. They reported that in the mornings there is usually a checkpoint for a few hours that checks their IDs and harasses but then goes away.