From 6:00 till 8:00 PM

Olive Passage

After exiting a sleepy West-Jerusalem, we drove into East Jerusalem where life had already started via Damascus Gate and A-Tur. When we got near the CP we saw cars of employers parked all the way down the slope of the road and even on the top beyond the fancy roundabout there were only very few parking spaces among the waiting buses.

The wall is now hermetically closed and any attempt to cross looks futile. A woman who exited asked us whether we were ‘observing’ and stated that today it had been ‘easy’. A man told us that his five children all have blue ID cards, but he alone is a resident of the territories. He was given the number of the Moked and told that they provide free legal advice.

We glimpsed at the back of the soldiers who were ‘processing’ the incoming Palestinians as we entered through the turnstiles towards the other side of the CP. Cars and vans came and went quickly unloading their passengers in a hurry to be able to manage a few more rides before the long hours of waiting without work would start.

There were four open empty garbage cans lined with new plastic bags in the waiting area, but the water fountains were out of order and the two brand new toilets have never been used since they were installed, because they are locked.

Many schoolchildren ran out of the various vans into the CP towards the special lane for women and children, some tripped and immediately got up and started running again. A sign in English at the entrance to the DCL offices showed the wrong direction for handicapped.

We joined the lane for men which was rather packed and decided to time the procedure. Immediately another lane was opened (had we been spotted?) and in less than 15 minutes we were outside. Most of the buses had disappeared and a long line of Palestinians was waiting for rides at the roundabout. When a bus finally appeared it looked as if at least a hundred people were able to board it.