In the waiting room, there were two lines of Palestinians waiting to receive their magnetic card, entering at different intervals.. There was only one man for the CSS and he waited a long time before he went in. Each time a crowd of people were let into the offices. Shlomit, who has been inside, says that there is a corridor and another waiting room   with the emphasis on waiting. But evidently there is only one soldier working.

One man who had been in jail and lost 15 kilo. It had been decided that  he was dangerous to the security of Israel. He had been in jail a few years ago as one of  his neighbors had been a collaborator and lied about him.  Hi said he had been beaten and now has trouble with his legs and his head. He said that they were given a few spoonful of humus, rice, etc for a whole day. He said it was like fastening for months.

We actually  came across a man who has been working in Israel the entire period of the war. He is an expert on air conditioners. He has a permit but is often kept at the checkpoints for a few hours.

A  group of young women came in, all speaking very good English. They were all of one family and had come with the husband of one of the women. We asked for their phone number so that we could check at what time they had eventually gone in and. after the man had said she could give me the number she did so. Someone remarked that he had had to give his consent and one young woman said ….”This is Arabic society.” and everyone laughed. This was at  about 14.00 and the woman whom I phoned said that they had been able  to go home about 3.30. But when they left the waiting room was still packed.