Qalandiya
06.15. Crowds had already come out of the checkpoint on the Israel side, and more were still streaming, many greeting us with smiles.
On the Palestinian side, the beigel seller was present (at least in the pleasant summery morning being outside was not uncomfortable), but he told us that the falafel stall was not allowed to open there. We wonder what will happen to him in the winter.
On the main road towards Jabbar a partition has been erected between the two directions of traffic. This seems to have decreased the chaos on this stretch of road, but it has made difficulties for pedestrians to cross. Fit young men leap over this partition, making a bee-line for the checkpoint [see picture]; others have to make a detour.
(And we wonder how difficult it must be for the elderly beigel-seller to trundle his cart.) Though calm – and the checking seemed to be at a reasonable rate – the line of traffic was very long. The traffic coming from the Ramallah direction was the usual crowded chaos.
The toilets were once again locked, but lights were on inside. Ironic and bitter. The sign is so deceptive.
Conditions were so quiet that we entered the checkpoint at 7 o’clock. In front of us at the document-checking stage, two women were stuck, hunting for the necessary documents, finally being told to wait until 8 o’clock.
A man was turned back by the policeman, as not having a permit.
A feature of the new checkpoint arrangement is that the policeman and D.C.O. staff are in direct contact with the people coming through, rather than behind fencing as before. Presumably this is because everyone has already passed through baggage and personal checking before reaching this final document stage.