Qalandiya, Wed 26.12.07, Afternoon

:

Qalandiya

The temporary checkpoint in the middle of the
road that leads from 443 to Qalandiya checkpoint, a few hundred meters away from
Qalandiya checkpoint itself, is active today and the soldiers are checking every
car, except the ones they know and that go to Atarot Border Police Base.
When we reach the permanent Qalandya checkpoint we see that a blue-dressed
policeman is checking the documents of cars going north into the West Bank
(Qalandiya is in territory annexed by Israel) and the rumors go that a few days
earlier an Israeli Jew entered Ramallah by mistake and now the police wants to
warn Israelis not to go through the checkpoint.

At 4:09 the pedestrian checkpoint crossing
south to Jerusalem: 2 checking booths are open but there are about 20
people waiting outside of the checking area and still have to go through the
first turnstiles in order to reach the checking booths.

At 4:10 more people have gathered and now we count 35 waiting outside the
checking area. Today, at this time, it takes a Jerusalem blue ID holder
about 20 minutes to cross. We have to remember this is a daily occurrence
that takes place several times a day. If we calculate the time
"stolen" from Palestinians by the checkpoints, we would reach
astronomic numbers.

At 4:20 checking booth # 4 is closed and then
we see the usual ritual whereby the first people on the line to enter the
checking booth become the last as all run to booth # 1 that has been opened
just now. At 4:21 (one minute later), the soldier announces that booth #
4 has been reopened and the running back and forth continues, with the
frustration of those who have lost their place in the line and have to waste
precious time again. All this is announced through a loudspeaker, but the
soldier shouts the orders and therefore not a word can be understood and people
have to try to guess what is being said.

At the northern part of the checkpoint, at
the roundabout before the entrance to the car lanes checkpoint, an armored
vehicle is parked, facing the

The same as last week, a soldier posted at
the tower in the pillbox shouts in English: "Go away", "You are
bothering". After a while he changes into Arabic: "Ruhi".