including Anata

Qalandiya/Ar-Ram/Anata Wednesday 19/1/05 AMObservers: Rina R., Maya B., Anat T. (reporting)6:30 We arrive at Qalandiya via Begin North – rd. 443. No Border Patrol surprise checkpoints today. Friendly welcome by the commander of the new reservist battalion who will be manning the CP starting two days from now (we hope they’ll keep this attitude once they’re here…) Unlike them, the soldiers presently manning the CP ignore us demonstratively.The CP is nearly empty, and very filthy. Barbed wiring blocks the northbound passageway and leaves a very narrow opening. It looks dangerous and repulsive, and that is probably what it is meant for. The children are on a two week holiday and semester break. Only 10 cars are waiting in line, southbound. We ask about special traffic arrangements for the holiday eve starting today, and A., DCO representative answers: "Everything is normal, regardless of the holiday”.Things are carried out as usual without any detentions, except for a young man who claims his ID is being renewed, but A. of the DCO claims “it has been manually handled”. The fellow insists on us summoning the police (we didn’t hear whose idea this was), and a caring reservist talks him out of it. We join his advice and the man goes to back to Ramallah.7:40 – we drive to Ar-Ram on the old road that has been repaved close to Qalandiya and divided into two lanes, south and north. At Ar-Ram CP, there are 7 detainees caught passing outside the CP, and the hard work of filling out forms (thus, BP attitude) is at its peak. The detainees stand on the north side of the CP, close to the BP shack and we have no access. Our questions about the detainees and the eased conditions for the holiday are ignored, but one BP soldier decides to call DCO and inquire about the holiday instructions. He repeats them out loud: All special visit requests etc. will be handled by the DCO and must be presented there in person. We leave after about half of the detainees are released and the rest on the way, signing forms.8:15 – on the way to Anata CP we see a crowd of women. We are told they are waiting for a bus to take them to pray at the Al Aqsa mosque. There are two vehicle lanes to Jerusalem, and some detainees were caught passing behind the CP. No one looks stressed. Again, long forms to fill out. An impressive fellow approaches – his name is Jameel and he claims to be chairman of the neighborhood committee. He tells us about the residents’ struggle to change the Fence route, that is meant to actually place 40,000 blue-ID holding Palestinians outside the Jerusalem municipal territory. They are greatly assisted by Dani Eisenman’s legal involvement. He tells us that this morning he taped residents’ travel, especially the women’s, to Al Aqsa. They were forced into the “cattle” corridor for being searched. In general there seems to be community spirit and initiative in Anata. 15 buses ride to and fro, paid for by the residents (subsidized prices). The extra lane for vehicles was obtained at court in an appeal which was answered by all the Jerusalem “Envelope” Fence cannons, who lost. Thus Jameel.Suddenly a BP jeep is seen up the hill opposite the CP, honking and signaling the stream of women who passed around the CP to stop. The young ones run and slip by. The elderly stop for a moment and some still try to catch the minibuses waiting beyond the road. The sight of a Border Patrolman chasing elderly village women would have been ludicrous, were it not so sad. Some of them manage to reach the minibus into which more and more people crowd, but the BP is relentless. He enters the line and tries to remove them from it, and only the men’s yells to leave them alone (he is there on his own, and even without any violence towards him, he obviously feels he “doesn’t deserve to do this alone”). The “hunted” women are processed by age, and H., CP commander says he is being extra lenient and letting 48-olds and up holding orange and green (Palestinian) IDs through. The younger ones protest, one of them is very persistent, but no go.We are scolded for disturbing him to do his duty by asking questions and “impeding his authority”. The truth is we really cannot do anything to help and this saddens us no end. We decide to start our next vigil at Anata.