Qalandiya, Thu 3.9.09, Morning

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Place: 
Observers: 
Sheila B and Judy E
Sep-3-2009
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Morning

Qalandia   6am

People had been waiting 1.5 hours to enter the inside corridor and were weary and frustrated, climbing over fences, pushing and shoving. The situation was volatile and we worried that it would deteriorate. We decided to call Duda A. but when he did not answer, we called the Humanitarian Office of the Army.  A soldier subsequently came over to us, angry at us for disturbing Dudu as he had been up all nite and in any case, there was nothing to report, according to the soldier, since the cameras showed people getting through the inside area in around 17 minutes.

It must be noted, however, that the camerainfo-icon panned only the inside and not the long lines of people waiting to enter. We can verify the long lines and wait as we were present at the Checkpoint until 7:30am.

Many people came to speak to us about their difficulties getting through the Humanitarian Gate as being injured from the pushing and shoving but to their credit, the soldiers were helpful , if they were aware, in moving through the more serious cases.  One man tried to speak to the Army Policeman who was unnecessarily rude to him.

Note the following:

1. The checkpoint is not large enough to handle the huge daily lines and with people queing up for a long time, the situation can be dangerous.  Due to the closing of other checkpoints, this one is now not sufficient to handle the daily needs. In addition, 6:30 is very late to begin processing those waiting in long lines. 

2.  Older people have difficulty waiting in the Humanitarian line for such long periods. Minimally, benches should be provided for those who are either too sick or elderly to chance being pushed in line.

3.  Access for school children through the Humanitarian line should be changed as they are holding up the lines and taking up space reserved for the sick and elderly.

4. By changing the age criteria for the Humanitarian line from over 60 rather than over 50,  the numbers for the regular lines have increased creating even more unrest, chaos and confusion.