Qalandiya

A rather usual morning

Arriving at 5:00, three checking posts were already functioning, the lines were short and passage was reasonable. By 5:15 the lines had extended to beyond the shed. At 5:30, the two additional posts had still not been opened and we called the headquarters to prod them - indeed, they were opened up five minutes later. But harm had already been done to the growing lines. At 6:00 we tracked a man from beginning to end of line and found that it had taken him 35 minutes to reach the 2nd turnstile in the checking area.

The 'humanitarian' gate was opened at 6:05 and the soldier on duty regularly  reopened the gate efficiently whenever it was called for.

We departed at  7:00, when the lines did not extend beyond the pens. The legendary Qalandiya traffic jam seems to have been transferred to Hizma (permanently or sporadically?).