On the day of Israeli redeployment from the Ramallah/Al-Bireh area, 27 December 1995, the area around the Israeli police station was sealed off with rolls of dangerous-looking barbed wire serving as crowd control barriers.

Several thousand Palestinian residents had turned up to watch the departing Israeli soldiers. Most of the troops seemed to have redeployed already, with four or five jeep loads of soldiers remaining in the cleared area to perform the symbolic functions of taking down the Israeli flag and handing over the keys to the arriving Palestinians.

The mood was festive, with many hawkers selling plastic Palestinians flags and snacks. Up on the small balconies of homes lining the road of the police station, families were crammed together so as not to miss out the spectacle below. Some had draped flags over the edges, once an act that would have guaranteed a prison sentence.

All around town, flags were popping up everywhere. The sight of them was incredible, knowing the history behind their display.

The soldiers seemed to be in a wistful mood, deviod of much of their usual agressiveness towards the Palestinians. Some talked with people, smiled at the antics of the many journalists seeking photo opportunities, and some expressed their relief to be leaving.

Meanwhile, officials from Arafat's Fatah faction, and Palestinian Preventative Security officers controlled access to the fenced off space in front of the Police Station.

Sometimes irate, it became clear (the barbed wire barriers underlining this) that they were unprepared both for today's excitement and the celebrations that would necessitate a thoughtful crowd control policy in the coming week.

The "crowd control" techniques of the Israeli military have not been a good model. In the years prior to redeployment, demonstrations were regularly put down with teargas, 'rubber' bullets, 'plastic' bullets and live ammunition. The words 'rubber' and 'plastic' are quoted ironically for reasons that will become clear if you keep reading this diary.

On one occasion in the center of Ramallah in November 1994, I witnessed Israeli soldiers beating up 15-year-old schoolgirls who were demonstrating against the Palestinian Authority. Go figure.

It was memories of scenes like that, regularly witnessed in Ramallah, that caught up even members of Palestinian opposition groups in the euphoria of the redeployment moment.

All things considered, most people were thinking, the PA could not be as bad as the Israelis.