Ar-Ram, Qalandiya, Mon 11.2.08, Afternoon
From 2:00 till 4:30 PM
A-Ram CP, Shuafat Refugee Camp, Anata, Qalandia
A short and frustrating shift.
After former reports from the A-Ram CP and the changes, which had occurred in its vicinity, We drove there. We met with an employee of a car dealer,located exactly opposite the CP and asked him for information. The man told us in excellent Hebrew that the road leading from a number of houses on a hill across from the CP to the road to Jerusalem was blocked off a few days ago with barbed wire coils. Until then people living there had been able to reach Jerusalem without any inspection and afterwards they had to get out via a narrow side-alley and pass the CP. The inhabitants of those buildings approached a lawyer whereupon the barbed wire was moved away. According to him there had been no problems for children to get to their schools. Two
boys who spoke English rather well affirmed his words. They had never been prevented from getting to school and their parents too have permission to cross before and after school. We went to the CP and the commander replied politely to all our questions. He told us that the CP would be abolished
within about three months when all openings in the northern part of the wall have been closed. In addition he told us that only the inhabitants of Dehiya-El-Bireh in possession of blue Id's are allowed to pass. Whoever else wanting to enter Jerusalem has to use the official CP's. All traffic passed uninterrupted while we were there.
We decided to drive to the entrance of the Shuafat camp. We parked on the sidewalk next to the power station where we had parked in the past. As we got out of the car a soldier called through a megaphone from the CP: "Move the car and go away". We didn't remain in enquire, but drove into Anata. The students had already left and there were no pedestrians in the cage. Many cars managed to wind their way over the potholes.
We drove to Qalandia and parked in one of the "parking lots" across from the entrance to the CP wanting to get into the CP and look. To our surprise we saw a new large sign at the entrance stating that this area falls under the Palestinian Authority and entry is strictly forbidden to Israelis. We tried to find out more and one of the civilian security guards amazed at our presence didn't know how long the sign had been up. Since we obey the law and had already been sent away from another CP, we left feeling frustrated.