Qalandiya

A reasonable morning at Qalandiya.

05.15. Inside we were happy to see that the lines were short. 4 checking stations were open. The beigel seller is back. Our friend H. tells us that his leg that was hurt in the turnstile has improved somewhat, but is still painful. He does not want an operation as recommended by his doctor and meanwhile suffers. His doctor prescribes rest – but in fact his work involves standing 12 hours a day.

Outside we saw that there is the beginning of a roof in the new building sites – apparently a new shed.

Towards 6 a.m. the queues grew longer and stretched out of the shed. A policeman (with a tablet) and a guard arrived.  It has been a while since we have seen a policeman here. They checked on the goings-on the policeman entering data on his tablet. We also heard the guard reporting by phone on the speed of progress at the checking stations. As no one had arrived to open the humanitarian gate, we asked the policeman – and he said this is the business of the D.C.O. In spite of this seemingly uninterested reply, we heard him contacting the D.C.O.

Meanwhile, as conditions were calm, women could fit into the general lines. Now and again the fifth checking station opened, but sporadically.  The soldier allowed only few people through at each opening of the turnstiles, and we feared that the queues might collapse. But a D.C.O. officer arrived with a guard and they instructed the soldier to open the turnstiles for longer periods. The humanitarian gate opened and people passed there.

At about 6.45 the lines were short and the humanitarian gate was closed.  Soon after, we joined a line. It took 20 minutes to pass.