Here in Jerusalem, the traffic gridlock makes Manhattan seem like a breeze. It takes over an hour at some points during the day to get just about a mile. It feels as if this city can't consume any more cars--and probably it can't. The hotels are filled with tourists on both sides of the city and construction for a light-rail system to ease traffic flow is actually mucking around with traffic now, with the cranes spitting up pieces of stone and workmen lining the roads, blocking traffic all over the place.

And, then, of course, there are the roadblocks, which are more spontaneous and frequent in East Jerusalem this month, and the entrance/exit from Jerusalem to Ramallah from the Qalandia checkpoint and the settlers' by-pass roads leading out of the city toward the settlement of Bet El and various other settlements and illegal outposts....

And once you cross over into the Palestinian side from Jerusalem, past the hulking cement wall and the large guard towers, you end up on the Qalandia road, that is in desparate need of paving. A Palestinian friend told me that Abu Mazen's office was waiting to start paving with funds from the Europeans and others until the new gov't was installed, to send a message to the Palestinian people that money and infrastructure will flow without Hamas in charge. So, now, the road work is underway, causing more delays, but perhaps in the end, it will actually ease the traffic. Only the politicians can decide on that.

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