Qalandiya

We arrived at the CP shortly after 5am. We parked at the Israeli side and walked to the barrier. The turmoil was great: there were many people beyond the turnstiles and in  lines before the pens. Usually the number of persons allowed  through the turnstiles is limited in order to avoid an overcrowding at the checking-tills. In attendance were one security guard and two policemen. Apparently, the first turnstile was out of order, constantly revolving and couldn't be stopped. People continued to go through until it finally came to a halt: actually, it was tied down by a chain! so the number of people waiting to be checked at the tills decreased but the crowd at the pens grew. Passage was renewed through two other turnstiles at the edge of the pens and great crowding formed there.

We advised women waiting for inspection to wait for the Humanitarian passage which would be open by 6:00. However the crowding was so severe that this advice  could not be followed and the needy simply had to wait until all the pushy young people would get through and the passage would once more return to normal.

At arrival, we had noticed the presence of two youths from "human Rights Blue-White". They claimed that a certain police officer often opened the humanitarian gate before 6 am. We never witnessed  this although we had seen a case of the gate being opened for a person in a wheelchair.

Ramadan means that the Beigeleh and coffee vendor was absent. Neither do people smoke. The parking lot was open. Many fences and barriers had been installed to direct people through the vehicle passage on Fridays.

At 5:40 one of the policemen indicated to the soldier in the 'aquarium' to open the turnstiles for an extended period in order to release people who were waiting in front of the checking-tills. Order was now reinstalled.
 At 6:10 the Matak officer P. arrived and opened the humanitarian till. We noticed him assisting a woman with a baby and a 10-year old boy and others.He was equipped with a sheet of paper and took notes while checking some people's permits.

A group of women stood aside and waited. Apparently, their permit was for passage after 8:00 and they were not allowed through earlier. We noticed that people lacking permits were declined passage.

At 7:15 a person dressed differently than the regular security staff arrived and was greeted by the others warmly. He opened the humanitarian gate whenever P. was away.

At 7:20 the lines contracted and were only evident at the pens. We left then as well and got through pretty quickly.