Qalandiya

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Aug-10-2003
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Qalandya, 06.30. The events of Thursday
night, when four Palestinians and an Israeli soldier were killed in
the Askar refugee camp near Nablus, were still very much in the
air. The soldiers refused passage to a Nablus man. He was told that
although his papers were in order "for the time being, perhaps
for the next few days, no one from Nablus can come through
Qalandya". We could not get confirmation of this ruling. A
friendly volunteer, H, greeted each Palestinian with a
"Shalom!" and, as documents were returned, each was also
thanked. Other soldiers were less pleasant. One woman, advised to
go the Bethlehem via Surda (a 2 hour trip) asked quite rationally,
but in vain: "If I can travel that way, why can't I travel
through here?" Persistence sometimes pays off. One
Palestinian, denied passage "because his papers aren't in
order", eventually convinced the soldier to take a third or
fourth look and accept the fact that his permit was still up to
date. But another man, with an UNWRA pass, had no such luck and was
sent back to Ramallah. A well-dressed woman with a couple of
children was refused passage (to visit her parents). We pleaded
with H. that generally women are treated more leniently, and that
he can exercise his own judgement. He thought a moment and then
agreed, but by then she was out of sight, perhaps already en route
to Surda! A father and son were told the boy (12) could go through,
but the father not, even as far as the taxis. They refused out
offer to escort the boy, and both left. We learned that those with
papers to travel to Jordan require no further permits. We asked H.
why he was volunteering, and he said he was convinced that if there
were people there like himself, who treated the Palestinians
decently, it would be better all around.