Qalandiya

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Place: 
Jul-26-2016
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Morning

Would that every morning were like this one

All five checking stations were open when we arrived at 5:30 and there were no lines in or into the cages because the turnstile at the end of the left one was open to all comers. Even when the soldier in charge of the turnstiles closed it, and lines began to form in the cages, the latter emptied out each time she allowed people to move forward. And so the situation remained throughout the morning. The DCO soldier  in charge of the Humanitarian Gate arrived at 5:55 to find that no one was standing by it and all the newcomers preferred to go through the swiftly moving lines through the cages. Nevertheless, she stayed until we ourselves joined one of the lines at 6:40, and we left the checking station less than 15 minutes later.

In a conversation with the DCO soldier and the policeman on duty (who is relatively new at this checkpoint), all had the impression that the pace of progress through the checkpoint was faster than in previous weeks. We felt this again especially when we stood on the line to enter the checking station, which moved forward with welcome speed.