Abu Dis, Container (Wadi Nar), Ras Abu Sbitan (Olive Terminal), Thu 23.4.09, Morning

6:10 Zeitim Crossing

 

A group of labourers leaves the area quickly.  From the outside all looks tranquil.

Inside: dozens of people, perhaps more than one hundred.  Three lanes are open but crossing is slow.

 

People are concerned about the new regulation obliging them to return at the end of their working day through the same checkpoint they had crossed in the morning.  People standing in front of us in the line told us they were coming from Bethlehem and preferred the Zeitim Crossing over the 300 checkpoint in the mornings because of the crush, but in the evenings they return through 300.

 

We are in lane 1 which moves slowly.  People cross one by one in an orderly fashion.  At one point a female voice over the loudspeaker orders us to move back one meter from the turnstile.  Why? Just because...

 

It took us 33 minutes to cross.

 

After the check in front of the outer turnstile people form a line at the order of a soldier.  The soldier wears a glove, and shakes people's hands -- checking for explosives? Even at the end of this "ritual" people are not allowed to cross.  They report having to wait another  10 minutes.

Wadi Nar

Traffic moves in waves.  A minibus is delayed for 8 minutes.  Then another
.

Az-Za'ayyem

No special problems were observed