Qalandiya, Sun 8.7.12, Morning
Translator: Charles K.
05:30 The five fenced corridors are open, as they have been for the past two weeks. An orderly line at each of the three revolving gates
. People go through at a very reasonable rate, and a number of laborers reply to our greeting that the crossing is “OK.”
06:00 The officer and his accompanying guard arrive and open the humanitarian gate, greeting us. We counted about 50 people going through every 4-5 minutes.
06:10 The line of laborers has gotten longer, and to our surprise the rate people go through has slowed. The line stretches beyond the canopy and laborers kept flowing to the three lines. Now we counted about 30 people crossing in 5 minutes.
06:30 We asked the “affable” officer to urge the soldiers to move people through more quickly, because we had the impression that things slowed down significantly and the line spilled over beyond the canopy. The officer explained that the soldiers are working as they should, and when he tries to hurry them up they actually slow down.
06:45 It looked to us that the atmosphere was heating up and we feared that there would again be turmoil, that the line would become disorderly like in the past. We again spoke to the officer, who was very happy to talk to us. He said the soldiers were from the Border Police, who don’t do what he tells them to. Our experience previously has been that when an officer arrives, the crossing speeds up.
07:30 We left when the line had shortened and people continued to go through at a fairly slow rate. It’s pretty discouraging, because we had the impression during the past two weeks that since the five revolving gates opened early, laborers went through at a fairly reasonable rate.
To sum up: We had the impression there were more people than usual crossing, but we can’t prove it. All the laborers we spoke to complained that only one or two revolving gates are open during the entire morning on Friday, and soldiers move people through very slowly. The officer wasn’t able to provide an acceptable explanation of why it should be like that other than the fact that, as everyone knows, many people are on their way to worship.