Qalandiya

As we drove up to Qalandiya we saw 3 ambulances standing in the bus parking lot south of the CP.  Natanya got out of the car to see what was happening while I continued to the northern parking lot.  As I passed through the CP I saw a fourth ambulance waiting on the sidelines to be examined by the soldiers.

The CP itself was practically empty.  Two passageways were operating.  As far as we could see, no one was waiting in the DCO shed.  About 10 laborers were sitting and waiting for transportation home in the CP's northern shed.  The line of bus passengers, in the western CP passageway, was moving fast and we could see no problems.

After surveying the CP, I saw that the 4th ambulance was still waiting in the vehicle CP. Natanya said that the drivers waiting for its arrival on the Jerusalem side of the CP told her that there was no "coordination".  I phoned the coordination hotline and the soldier who answered said that he was working on release of the ambulance. About 5 minutes later the ambulance was called into the vehicle CP and, after a short examination, released into the parking lot.  Natanya, who accompanied the procedure from close up, said that the (female) soldier in charge of the process was very polite and efficient.  A problem arose with the first set of ambulances when the patient being transferred insisted on taking a large sack of some unidentified greens with him to hospital.  It turned out that the greens were for making tea to treat the cancer from which he was suffering and he was allowed to take his sack with him.  The patient in the second set of ambulances was also suffering from cancer – a young boy of about 14-16 from Jenin, on his way to Hadassah Ein Karem Hospital accompanied by his older brother.

Nothing else of special interest occurred during our shift.  We left Qalandiya at 5 PM.