Bethlehem, Thu 1.11.07, Afternoon
On each of the last two days I received telephone calls at 1700 hrs describing the long queues and disorder at the crossing. However, because I have been extremely busy lately, we compromised by using the whole of our shift to make a visit there.
About 4,000 Palestinians cross each day at this terminal; the crossing is for labourers, and nearly all of them return at the same time, and try to leave early in the morning.
At 03.45, 3 inspection stations were already open, and an employee of the private contractor who operates the terminal organized the queues. At 04.00, 4 positions were open, and at 04.15, 5 positions were in operation. Another of the contractor's employees stood inside the crossing terminal.
The operation of the terminal was meticulous and orderly: these were the best organized queues that we have ever seen at the checkpoints. The supervisor told those standing in line: “Number 3 to position 5, number 5 to position 4” etc etc. The Palestinians stood in 2 lines, and the supervisor simply passed them through at a fast pace. Even at the time of peak pressure the whole procedure took at most 10 minutes.
Shlomit spoke to the supervisor and even complimented him on his handling of the situation, and on his immediate attention to humanitarian cases, such as passing women through without standing in line, and directing the elderly and those who walked with difficulty to the nearest position.
When I asked about the incident at the inspection windows the day before, he answered that he wasn't there then. His colleague confirmed this and added that when this supervisor is present everything moves quickly, “because he is quite something “.
Since I am investigating the subject of the privatization of the terminals' operation, I asked him about the security guards' authority over the Palestinian citizens, and also in regard to us. Here his answer was that they still don't have any authority over anyone.
At 04.45, the pressure ended, and I returned to my work.