Qalandiya

After 2 days of severe travel
restrictions, the line of vehicles seemed endless. Drivers reported
a wait of 2-3 hours. Checking was fast but the number of lorries,
transits and cars was enormous. A volunteer at Qalandya south did
not want to let us pass north, but the checkpoint commander
informed him of our special status. The commander in charge, was
responsible for the rather civil behavior of his team, and problems
were tackled in a calm and matter of fact way. There were about 25
detainees from the quarry, who had waited already for about an hour
when we arrived at the northern checkpoint at 4 o'clock. IDs were
being returned, and some of the Palestinians could even pass south.
Nevertheless, one of the IDs was missing, and it took another 2
hours (!!!) until it was found and delivered to the checkpoint in a
jeep. Pedestrians' passage was smooth, although the queue was very
long. A Palestinian ambulance, on its way to an East Jerusalem
hospital, was checked and turned back, but then suddenly it was. At
about 6 o'clock we began to hear shooting from the area of the
security fence. We tried to get closer, but could not detect where
exactly it came from. By 6:30 the shooting subsided.