'Anata, Qalandiya, Tue 5.7.11, Morning

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Observers: 
Avital Toch and Ina Friedman (reporting)
Jul-5-2011
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Morning

The parking lot adjoining the checkpoint seems emptier than usual when we arrive at 6:10. Waiting lines extend beyond the three cage-like "sleeves," and there are about 8 people waiting in front of the Humanitarian Gate, with the last on line reporting that he has been waiting for about five minutes. Almost immediately thereafter, however, the security guard and Civil Administration officer emerge from the glass booth, open the gate, and reopen it each time someone stands before it.

The lines through the "sleeves" likewise move relatively swiftly, and all three are empty – though people continue arriving – when we leave at 6:25. A man at the end of one of the lines, whose number we took at 6:20 and phoned afterward, nonetheless reported that he exited the checkpoint only at 7:30. After passing through the turnstile, he explained, he joined a line (#5, which also serves the Humanitarian Gate) that proved to be very slow-moving.

Both pedestrians and vehicles flowed smoothly through the Anata checkpoint, which we left at 7:15.