Qalandiya

A new metal barrier about 10 meters
before the soldier's post, with all pedestrians, except school
children, kept behind it, and permitted to come forward only one by
one. The one soldier posted had a hard time handling the traffic.
The commander introduced himself and offered us coffee. Another
soldier who was sweeping the post thought nothing of questioning
Palestinians while leaning on his broom.

Qalandya South: An older volunteer helplessly tried to explain to
Palestinians passing through that though they can leave for
Ramallah, they won't be permitted back later.

Qalandia North: The commander immediately took us aside for a
"briefing" telling us we could not advance closer than
the plastic barriers about ten meters back from the actual
checkpoint ("New Jersaey"), where Palestinians who've
been refused entry are permitted to congregate briefly. His line:
"This is the first and last time we will talk to one
another", and worse, have already been reported before. One
new twist on old scare tactics was his claim to have specific
intelligence warnings that suicide bombers will attempt to use our
presence at the checkpoints. There was complete closure, which the
Palestinians did not know about in advance, and the soldiers tried
to explain it in Arabic. They were trying to be civil overall, but
were quite tense. One man who came around the side of the
checkpoint with his child would not hear of going to stand in line,
and someone in the line called out to the soldiers in Hebrew to let
him pass because he's crazy. The soldier waved his ID: "Oh
yes, does it say he's crazy in here? How do you know?" The man
in the line said, "he's crazy, I know him, just let him
pass." He was allowed through. We saw no incidents despite the
soldiers' tension, and were surprised to find no soldiers at Tora
Bora, and young men crossing almost freely. we also saw new
groundwork. A new wall, or another checkpoint?