Qalandiya, Tue 3.4.12, Morning

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Place: 
Observers: 
Ina Friedman, Nava Jenny Elyashar (reporting) Translator: Charles K.
Apr-3-2012
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Morning

05:00, a little chilly, people are smiling

As if someone had read our complaints regarding last Tuesday, when nothing worked properly, this morning we arrived at the checkpoint at exactly the same hour and saw a demonstration of how the checkpoint can be operated very efficiently and with a minimum of discomfort for people going through.

 

People arrived at the checkpoint at the usual rate, a normal, ordinary Tuesday, like last Tuesday.  The most obvious difference between last week’s terrible congestion and this morning’s uninterrupted flow was the attention paid to controlling movement of people through the checkpoint.

 

To demonstrate, I prepared two tables comparing the situation at the checkpoint on the most and the least congested day.

 

The tables refer to the period between 05:00 – 07:00 because last week, at 07:05, the mass of laborers who’d filled the plaza, pressing up against the fence, burst through a side gate.  More than a hundred people flowed in, flooded the inspection stations and disrupted everything until 09:00.  That’s why no comparison is possible with what occurred after 07:00.

 

The number of people waiting on the outer line in the entry plaza

(including the humanitarian entrance)

 

During the half-hour

beginning at:

   Congested day

        27.3.12

   Uncongested day

           3.4.12

05:00

          200

            150

05:30

          350

            200

06:00

          500

            250

06:30

          450

            220

07:00

          500

            100 

 

The number of people from the entry plaza joining the inner line for inspection

 

Between the hours of:

   Congested day

         27.3.12

   Uncongested day

           3.4.12

05:00-05:30

           129

             228

05:30-06:00

           141

             309

06:00-06:30

           139

             338

06:30-07:00

           120

             438 

 

Similarities between last Tuesday and this Tuesday:

 

At 05:00, the five computer inspection stations were open.

Ten people waited at each inspection station

Last week there were about 200 people on line at 05:00

This week there were about 150 people on line at 05:00

 

At 06:00, an additional inspection lane opened.

We counted the number of people on line in the plaza for inspection at each revolving gate.

We estimated the number of people on line at the humanitarian gate because it was more difficult to count them.  

We determined the number of people going through the revolving gatesinfo-icon by counting the number of people entering through the first gate each time it opened and multiplying that number by the number of gates that were operating.

We counted the exact number of people going through the humanitarian gate when they entered the corridor leading to the inspection booth.