Qalandiya CP - Queues extend out of the checkpoint
05.15. Cold and dark. Five checking stations were open most of the time, but the queues stretched way beyond the shed. Yet the speed of checking seemed reasonable. The beigel seller was present, as well as the relatively new falafel stall, and the coffee kiosk was once again open for business.
The third turnstile (furthest from the soldier’s cubicle) was blocked, and so there were only 2, consequently long lines. People were let in frequently, if not many each time. We noticed that there seems to be less smoking nowadays. Is there more awareness among Palestinians now about the dangers of smoking?
06.00. There are already many waiting at the humanitarian gate. The woman soldier who replaced her colleague in the cubicle sometimes was confused and opened only one turnstile at a time, causing lots angry shouts from the unopened one. The guard who accompanied her helped her, and at one stage simply opened the carousels himself. Meanwhile, the D.C.O. officer arrived and the gate opened at 6.15.
We went outside to buy tea at the kiosk. The minibuses that now reach the entrance to the checkpoint drive towards the new roundabout and then wait for the people in the lines that have stretched out of the shed to move aside to make way for them on the road. One minibus simply drove onto the paving of the roundabout.
At 7.25 the lines were short, and we joined one. While we were waiting in one of the cages we saw the D.C.O. officer and the guard moving across to the Palestinian side of the checkpoint. The humanitarian gate was closed. After we passed, we saw the soldier returning from the direction of the vehicles checkpoint.
It took about 25 minutes to pass.