Al Jib (Givat Zeev), Qalandiya

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Observers: 
Virginia Syvan, Natanya Ginsburg, Ina Friedman (reporting)
Mar-19-2019
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Morning

Spot Check at Qalandiya and Jib

Based on various reports that people are arriving at the Qalandiya Checkpoint later than before (because they expect not to waste time on line due to the improved technologies at the new checkpoint), we arrived only at 6:30. Because the free parking lot was full at this hour, we parked in the pay lot, where we were warmly welcomed. From there we proceeded to the new checkpoint (the first visit for Virginia), spent a few minutes with the begele seller (the only “food stand” present at that hour), and then did a introductory tour, first outside – where we discovered that the bathrooms are the familiar ones located inside the old checkpoint – and then inside. The process inside went quickly through the usual stages of the security check (backpack and handbag scan, metal detector, document check). At the end of the process we remained inside the security-check hall to monitor especially the electronic-recognition process up close. This time a Civil Administration officer and security guard were also present in the hall to direct people and answer questions. Two of the four checking stations were manned by soldiers to check the documents of people whose biometric identity cards failed to work or who were not equipped with such cards. For the most part the new system operated smoothly, and when there was an occasional problem with a biometric card, it was solved quickly by the soldiers in the adjoining  booth.

We continued from there to the Jib checkpoint, whence reports had come of serious problems. We did not pass onto the Palestinian side (in Area B) because we did not want to risk being delayed there for long  by the checkpoint commander (as happened to our colleagues the last time they visited this checkpoint) on a day when we had to be at work on time. But we spoke with the few people who passed through the checkpoint between 7:30 and close to 8:00. The first did not stop to speak with us but shouted, as he passed hurriedly by, that the checkpoint functioned very badly. Unfortunately we were not able to get details out of him. A bit afterward three young men came out and actually contradicted the earlier man, insisting that the checkpoint functioned properly and that they did not encounter any problems at all. We thought that perhaps we had arrived after the “peak” of rush-hour by the pedestrians  -- who are limited to Palestinians working in the adjoining settlement of Givat Ze’ev. But when we questioned a street cleaner working near us, he said that the “peak” was actually between 7:00 and 8:00 a.m., which sounds logical given that the permits of those passing through Jib are for work solely in this settlement.

At all events, we were surprised by the small number of people who were passing through the checkpoint at this hour and decided to return at an earlier hour next time and to pass over to the Palestinian side. Only after getting a clearer picture there would we move on to a spot check at Qalandia. And next time, just in case, the visitors to Jib will be volunteers who are not bound by the need to arrive at work on time.