Qalandiya

Spring is felt at the CPs too. At five o'clock there are already three turnstiles open. The policeman announces every few minutes in Arabic that all three passages are open. People pass quickly. According to the reports of the Ecumenical crew, the passage lasts 10 minutes.

At the square the are three stands of a telephone company which offers free SIM cars and communication hours against registration to the company. Were it not for the fences and the barriers one could have thought that we are in a city's street.

A lonely cat brushes against the fence. Tens of birds sing morning songs.

It is quiet. The passage is efficient. The women do not wait for the humanitarian passage as the passages are all empty.

It is so quiet and sparse that we check with the people present whether this is not a holiday. It is not. It is just an ordinary day on which the policemen and the soldiers act efficiently. Perhaps it is the influence of spring….