Qalandiya, Sun 1.1.12, Morning

5:30: The queues approaching the turnstiles nearly reached the parking lot. Crowded lines, silent people.  Only three checking posts were functioning and merely 13 persons were allowed through at any one time and often, even less . At first, one of the turnstiles was not operating and only following our remark was it repaired.  Within the 'aquarium' cage there were two soldiers, two private-company security personnel and one civilian-clad person. We unsuccessfully attempted to find out who he was but then one of the soldiers explained that he was the police officer in charge of the barrier. His general appearance, his body-language, his shouting and screaming, all conveyed a violent attitude. He mocked people who were merely inquiring, expressed himself rudely and in high tones to all and was restlessly on the move. Running about from here to there, taking documents from people and checking them, then returning them with a remark that next time he wouldn't return them. All of this he carried out senselessly but was consistently occupied.
6:15: The queues were shorter but many younger people were there, pushing, shouting and climbing the separating rails. Their efforts to shorten their waiting time were to no avail as the civilian-clad commander of the CP stopped them, checked their  documents and sent them back to the end of the line.
There was no pressure at the Humanitarian checking post. A soldier sat there and checked the permits' opening the gate whenever necessary (too slow and too rare). The commander's loud shouting filled the space.