Qalandiya

Qalandya: Pedestrian traffic flowing
smoothly, with no delays. Very little vehicular traffic. A woman
with a little girl wanted to travel to Hebron without
authorization. She was held up for about 15 minutes, one soldier in
particular didn't want to let her pass. We offered to accompany her
to a taxi and make sure she got on it, and the officer agreed.

Ar-Ram: Anyone without proper authorization was turned back. an
ambulance was held up for about 20 minutes, it was not clear why. A
doctor accompanying her niece to a clinic at Mukassad hospital
without authorization was held up for about 30 minutes. When we
began phoning around, she was allowed to go through. A large group
of children in day camp wanted to pass to go on a tour of
Jerusalem. The children were allowed through, with the counselors
under 16 (their age was not checked, the officer took their word
for it), but the older counselors without blue IDs were not. The
officer in charge seemed arbitrary, and his manner was unpleasant,
but he did let several people through with no authorization.
"I know these people aren't dangerous, but have to follow the
rules. I think the whole checkpoint is unnecessary, but if I say
that to my bosses, they'll fire me", he said.