Qalandiya, יום א' 5.7.09, אחה"צ
Natanya translating.
Our friend, the coffee maker greeted us with a smiling face. "Today was good" he said. Even though it is Sunday, there are not many people. Even in the morning things went well." Truly the pedestrian crossing and the car lane was fairly empty. We were not so happy. The fact that Qalandiya is so empty is because of the sad fact that since it became a "terminal" it is only for those who have blue IDs. Whoever does not have a permit can not go through without a special permission. To get this it is Via Dolorosa and many Palestinians are security or police refused and can not get these.
Even if there is an emergency it is no possibility of speaking to the soldiers who sit behind the glass armoured windows and do not or cannot listen to the explanations of the person addressing them. With a wave of the hand they motion the person to go back and not delay those behind. After several vain attempts people give up. The reason for the comparative emptiness of the checkpoint is the bureaucracy of the occupation which are exercised on the population. Today also we heard that the quota of work permits which are given to Palestinians has been lessened and that is another reason why there is little movement.
On the way back we saw that some of the workers were having difficulty using the new biometric machines which identify them. We tried to ask the soldier who sat behind the glass window why this was so but we could not hear his explanations and he was not prepared to go to the special window which he could have opened. This new procedure of checking the Palestinians returning from Jerusalem is a pilot project. They are only used from 16.00 and if the registration has not taken place the worker is not considered as having come back late. After the pilot period has ended the machines will be in use 24 hours a day. (That reminds me that the checkpoint is open 24 hours a day but only to those who have blue IDs and not just a permit.) We will