Qalandiya, Mon 28.11.11, Morning

Translator:  Charles K.

We decided to arrive earlier to see whether there will be hundreds of people at the checkpoint very early today as well.  So we began our shift at 05:30. 

The entrance hall was very full.  Only in two of the fenced corridors were people moving; in the third they stood and waited. 

The humanitarian gate was still closed, very many people crowded in front of it.  We telephoned the DCO, and after the fourth call, at 06:15, two officers and a Bedouin security person arrived, opened the humanitarian gate and began moving the crowd in the corridors. 

Neta Efroni also arrived and again photographed what was going on at the checkpoint – the long wait which can last forty minutes on the outer line, the yelling, whistles and all that’s involved in waiting so long.  Including the sportsmen among them climbing over the others’ heads. 

The indifference of the inspectors, the despair of those waiting, the indignity of the entire procedure. 

We waited until 8 AM, saw that the humanitarian gate remained open the whole time and the line for the laborers had almost emptied. 

We met a new DCO officer, An’an, a Druze, very nice, who promised he’d make sure the crossing operates as efficiently as possible, considering how many people come through. 

There wasn’t the usual congestion in the plaza leading to the vehicle checkpoint when we left at 8 AM.