Qalandiya

Ar-Ram: A new group of border
policemen. Pedestrian traffic flowed smoothly. Those without
permits were refused but did not argue for special consideration.
M., the soldier in charge, demands that we stand 25 meters away. We
refuse, he is adamant, repeating the same words: "I am
responsible for you here!" When we wanted to go to Qalandya,
he demanded that we wait for his superior officer, S. S. arrived
while we were still arguing. We all saw one of the soldiers hit a
Palestinian with his gun, and the officer rushed over. He asked the
Palestinian to stand aside, and did not accept the soldier's
explanation that the Palestinian had pulled the gun's strap. He
said clearly; "I saw the whole incident, and you were not
attacked". To us he said that we should stand where M.
instructed us -- from where we would not have been able to see the
incident. Qalandya: Very few cars going in either direction. The
soldiers efficient and civil to the Palestinians. Deliberately
ignoring us. An impromptu Checkpoint just down from Tora Bora. A
long line of cars going west, checking seems arbitrary, sometimes
every car and each passenger, and then suddenly not at all. The
traffic at the south end towards Ar-Ram was quite hectic.