Jericho DCL

Translation: Naomi Gal

Jericho DCL is located at the southern entrance to the Palestinian town of Jericho, along the road linking Highway 1 (Jerusalem to the Dead Sea) and the city of Jericho (not A Zone). Adjacent to DCL there is a Border Police camp. At the entrance to DCL there is an easy to access parking lot. I was unable to enter the waiting room of DCL - if there is one. The entrance to DCL is through barbed wire, there is no shelter from the burning sun, and today there were more than 40 degrees. The Palestinians who waited there holed up in cars that have air conditioning to escape the heat.

None of the people I met has heard of us or knew what we are doing. They all "jumped" at me because, of course, everyone has problems. According to those present since morning 24 people went in and I counted another 29 waiting outside DCL. Many of those present were from Jenin - probably because the pressure in Jericho is lesser. Their argument that they were waiting since the wee hours of the night did not sound reasonable.

The carousel did not open for half an hour, but when one of the soldiers "discovered" me – the carousel opened and everyone went inside. I collected ID numbers for inquiries - and the results are not encouraging at all. I left all of them phone numbers.

I think it's important that we hold shifts in Jericho. The distance from Jerusalem is about 25 km on an excellent road.

I stayed there for an hour and a half.