Qalandiya, Tue 24.4.12, Morning

Very slow and dispiriting morning at Qalandia.

The three lines into the cage-like passages extended into the parking lot when we arrived just before 6 a.m. and continued that way for close to another two hours. The Humanitarian Gate was opened at 6 a.m. and then twice again after 10 minute intervals. However, it was closed for 25 minutes between 06:20 and 06:45, during which time a large crowd estimated at 150 people) amassed in front of it, and once it was opened the expected crush to get through the gate was evident.
As we have pointed out repeatedly, allowing a large crowd and consequent crush to develop defeats the whole purpose of the HG, which is designed for the passage of the sick, the elderly, parents carrying infants and small children, et al.

Those who passed through the gate at 06:45 were then held in the inner courtyard before being allowed, in smaller groups, to join the line at Sleeve 5, which was dedicated to the users of the HG.

The gate was then not opened again until 07:25 (40 minutes later), by which time another large and frustrated crowd  -- with a woman in a wheelchair stuck nervously in the midst of it -- had again developed by it. And it opened at 07:25 only after we had phoned the Humanitarian Hotline to complain about the situation, as our attempts to get the attention of the Civil Administration officer on site were either not heard or were ignored. From 07:25 until 08:30, the HG was opened at shorter intervals.

At 7 a.m. the lines leading to the three cage-like passages still extended out to the parking lot, and when we left at 08:30 it still included about 100 people (all together), plus another 20 people waiting to enter the Humanitarian Gate. Our colleagues from the EAPP, who time the transit through the checkpoint by periodically handing out notes with the time written on it to the last person standing on one of the lines and collecting them at the exit, kindly shared with
us their findings about the transit time this morning:

04:30-05:00 , 1 hour
05:00-05:30 , half an hour
05:30-07:30, 1 hour

One of these colleagues, who at 07:30 joined a line to transit the checkpoint, reported that it took him 1½ hours to do so. The problem, he reported, was at the checking station, where the soldiers “took a break” between registering the permit (or in his case passport) number of each person on his line.

Observation: Last winter we had a very upbeat conversation with a Civil Administration officer on site who we have come to know as very professional and serious about his work. He told us that the situation at Qalandiya had been re-evaluated and changes were being introduced to improve the management of the checkpoint. He noted especially that more mature and experienced Civil Administration officers were being assigned to Qalandiya and were being reinforced by experienced
policemen. Unfortunately, our hopes for improvement were long ago dashed. Today there were no fewer than seven soldiers, police, and security guards on site, simultaneously, yet it was an agonizingly slow and frustrating morning. For much of the time, the Palestinians waiting on line for half an hour or more could see all of them together in the “aquarium” chatting, smoking and eating in what looked much like a coffee klatch.

Most striking of all, however, none of them appeared to be connected to the goings-on in the five checking booths. And it is not clear to us who is responsible for supervising the soldiers in the five checking booths, especially – as we are repeatedly told by the Palestinians who pass through the checkpoint daily – they are the source of the grindingly slow pace at Qalandiya.