Qalandiya

South, we are told children were
throwing stones and soldiers were shooting and that a child had
been caught, so we rushed there.

North, It was 4.25 pm when we heard two shots coming from the usual
place between the fence and Qalandya village. We saw two soldiers,
one ready to shoot, his gun pointed directly at a crowd, he was
kneeling, his gun on a triangular support, his eye
"glued" to the gun's telescopic sights, his finger on the
trigger. Behind him was standing the commander, N. We shouted to
him not to shoot, and when it didn't seem to affect him, we used
more direct means, for which some of us are now charged with
"disturbing soldiers while performing their duty"
(namely, shooting children???). They admitted that they intended to
sight the child who threw a stone/Molotov bottle (2 versions) and
shoot with live ammunition, 'in cold blood'. The children and the
crowd were far off. They volunteered that had we been Palestinians,
they would have shot us too. However we stopped them. N. ordered R.
to unload his gun, and we were dragged to the checkpoint and
ordered to stay there until the blue police arrives. Some hours
later, they did. We were then driven to Neve Yaakov police station
where we and the soldiers gave our respective testimonies. We were
released at 11pm, on bail. We are sending our counter complaint.
Both for the recurring shooting incidents at Qalandya and against
these particular soldiers. While we were detained at the checkpoint
waiting, children brought us gifts: Popsicles, corn, gum, peanuts,
and lots of love.