Jaba (Lil), Qalandiya

The CP was operating as usual yesterday.  During our shift, most of the people crossing to Jerusalem were students returning from Ramallah and Bir Zeit.  Two passageways were active all the time (with lines averaging about 10 people long). When a large group of Danish students arrived on their way to Jerusalem, a third passageway was opened until the lines got shorter.

When we arrived at Qalandiya we met a family with a small child waiting to enter the DCO offices.  We immediately phoned headquarters to let them know, and the people were allowed in without further delay.  Later on (about 16:50 PM) we saw another group of three waiting in the DCO line.  We thought they wouldn’t be allowed in, but surprisingly they were, even though it was quite late.    

We left Qalandiya a little before 5 PM and drove to Jerusalem via Lil CP.  A military vehicle was parked beside the old CP and 5 or 6 soldiers were stopping traffic on the way to Qalandiya to check driver documents.  There was quite a traffic jam stretching for several hundred meters as a result with dozens of cars crawling their way slowly up the hill.  When we asked the soldiers what was happening they grudgingly muttered something about an “alert”.  We stopped for a while to see what developed and then continued on our way.