Qalandiya

Routine of Occupation

All five checking stations were open when we arrived at 5:30 and the progress forward was slow to reasonable.

The Humanitarian Gate was opened at 6:00 by a security guard, after which a Civil Administration soldier arrived and continued to operate the gate smoothly until the end of the shift.

There were no breakdowns (other than the x-ray machine in station no. 1), incidents, or dramas. One can only be amazed by the fortitude of the people who undergo the daily experience of creeping forward on line without any expectation of change except that things may become worse. As usual, people greeted us on their way to the Humanitarian Gate or from a distance.  

At 7:10 we joined the shortest of the three lines through the cages and completed the security check 15 minutes later.  

There’s a change in the approach to the pedestrian checkpoint. Now the path runs alongside the fence separating it from the vehicle checkpoint. (As a result, it is easier to see the length of the line outside from within the shed). We also peeked what was once the parking lot attached to the checkpoint and saw that a roundabout has been paved there. This leads us to conclude that the former parking lot is destined to become a road. At the same time, from what we can see from within the shed, the construction of a permanent building to the left of the present pedestrian checkpoint is moving forward. In general, the direction of things here seems to be toward permanence, rather than the tin and screws from which the present checkpoint is constructed. Conclude from that what you will.