Qalandiya

5:00: Arriving on a chilly morning, there already was a long line.

Two women from the Ecumenical group were there, assessing the duration of passage during these past two hours - approximately 40 minutes they reported.

5:25: Five checking booths were operating. In the past all five checking-booths were opened at 4:00 - when most of the workmen would arrive. There also was a period when only three booths had been opened at 4:00 and the two others at 5:00. And now - the two others at 5:30?

The humanitarian gate was opened at 6:25. The officer had indeed arrived at 6:05, saw merely two  persons waiting and left. When he returned we reminded him that the Humanitarian gate was supposed to be open 24 hours but he  responded that it wasn't worth the effort for the two persons that had been waiting, who weren't sick at all.

Obviously, there was no consideration for the plight of people wishing to pass through on these cold mornings and the need to shorten the duration of passage - all five booths need to be opened by 4:00. 

Between 4:30 to 5:00, we noted that 500 persons had crossed through - they had already been there at 4:00, in front of the closed checking booths.