Qalandiya

Ar-Ram: Only few pedestrians and
vehicles, and the soldiers are correct and polite.

Qalandya: Regulations are strictly implemented -- no permit, no
passage. No passage age is 16-45 both for men and women. The
soldiers are polite and good natured, but no concessions were made
for anybody. There were no humanitarian cases. There were four
soldiers at Tora Bora, since 06:00, and no one attempted to bypass.
Many men wishing to go to work were waiting for the soldiers to
leave Tora Bora. They were anrgy and frustrated. They told us that
on Friday afternoon, while a demonstration was taking place near
Qalandya, the soldiers ordered the taxis to disperse and forbade
them from taking passengers. Those who dared disobey had their car
windows smashed by rifles - we saw one. Another story we heard was
from a guard at the taxi parking who built a shed of wood on the
dusty sidewalk. He heard from witnesses that on Thursday night the
soldiers burned the shed to ashes. All the others we talked to said
that last week was hard at Qalandya. An Arab family from Abu Gosh
were on their way for a social visit beyond north Qalandya. They
asked A. whether they would have to line up on their way back,
since they are "Israeli Arabs". Well, they were prevented
from going north with their Israeli IDs.