Qalandiya - About 3 workdays gone down the drain because of bureaucracy
About 3 workdays gone down the drain because of bureaucracy.
Naji is employed on night shifts at a plant working around the clock in the Atarot industrial zone.
He arrives at his workplace at 3 p.m. and goes home at 10 a.m. the next morning.
- When do you get any sleep, Naji?
- Whenever I can.
Naji has a transit permit. A week ago, this permit ran out. He went to the DCO to get a new one.
A transit permit by definition is temporary, so that a person - Palestinian - forever depends on the good or bad will of the sovereign Israeli.
The next day Naji came to work. His boss took a look at the paper and saw that the permit is valid from morning until 7 p.m. He sent Naji home.
- I can’t employ you against the law, said the boss.
- It’s probably a mistake, said Naji.
- Might be. But until you have a night permit, you don’t work here.
Naji went home.
The next day Naji asked his brother to go to the DCO.
The brother went there. He was told that only the person whose permit it is has to come and that they work until 5 p.m.
Another workday gone down the drain.
On the assigned day Naji came at 4 p.m. and couldn’t get in because the turnstile there was locked. He tried to gain the attention of the soldier behind the glass, the fellow with the finger that unlocks the turnstile. He yelled, soldier! No one saw him, no one heard a thing.
Naji went over to the parallel waiting line leading to Jerusalem, and realized that the same soldier was in charge.
He held up his papers to the glass and asked to be let through to the DCO office.
The soldier looked at the papers, nodded and said: it’s closed.
Well, what’s true is true. The DCO is supposed to work until 5 p.m. but the way there is locked from 4 p.m. Whoever made it inside is taken care of. Whoever remained outside – is out.
Another workday gone down the drain.