Qalandiya

We passed through Ar-Ram but there were
hardly any people.

Qalandya: Things seemed quiet at first - cars and pedestrians
passing through without any serious delays. There is now a new
regulation - Jerusalemites are no longer allowed to exit Jerusalem
through Qalandya. If they do so without a good reason, their names
are taken on their way back, and the next time it happens, they
will be fined 5000 NIS!!. We couldn't find out the source of this
new regulation. The checkpoint commander was was a volunteer named
M. One man tried to talk to him in Hebrew, but then switched to
English since he couldn't express himself well enough. M. didn't
let him talk, demanding rudely and loudly that he speak only in
Hebrew. Some people whom he wouldn't let in he redirected to Surda,
where there is no checking. There seemed to be a general strictness
about letting in anyone with any sort of problem in their papers,
especially people who live in Jerusalem but their address is not
updated in their papers. The soldiers were warned to be
particularly careful with people from Nablus, because of specific
alerts.