Qalandiya

Clever soldiers make all the difference

All five checking stations were open when we arrived at 5:30 and there were hardly any lines in the shed. We quickly understood why: the soldier responsible for opening the turnstiles at the end of the three cages let everyone waiting on line go through each time he opened the turnstiles. His replacement, who arrived at 6:10, did not follow his example exactly (we noted that more and more people arrived as the morning advanced) but enabled enough people to pass through to insure a smooth flow for the rest of the shift.

The Humanitarian Gate was opened at 6:10 by a security guard (a Civil Administration officer arrived almost immediately thereafter) and was operated smoothly until the end of our shift.

At 6:55 we joined the shortest of the three lines through the cages and passed through the security check within 10 minutes.