Qalandiya, Tue 1.11.11, Morning

There are medium-length lines waiting to enter the three narrow, cage-like passages leading to the first turnstiles and a crowd of about 80 people waiting in front of the Humanitarian Gate when we arrive at just after 6 a.m. From then until 6:30, the female soldier on duty does not open the turnstile of the right-hand passageway. The men stuck in this passage understandably grow increasingly frustrated, and we try to communicate with the woman soldier inside the glassed-in booth, but to no avail. She realizes that we are trying to convey a message to her but does not come out to hear what it is. We therefore have no explanation of why she does not open the third turnstile. Twice between 6:00 and 6:30 we call the DCO to report this annoying situation and also to note that there is a large crowd waiting by the Humanitarian Gate. At 6:30 the third carousel begins to operate.

At the same hour a soldier and security guard appear, open the Humanitarian Gate, and allow 80 people through. They confiscate the permits of four men who were not entitled to use the gate, send them back out to stand near us (to whom they naturally appeal for help), and return the permits to them 20 minutes later. Thereafter the Humanitarian Gate is opened at frequent intervals, with between 25 and 50 people allowed through each time. Thus by the time we leave the checkpoint at 7 A.M., almost 300 people have passed through the gate. The rate of movement through the three narrow, cage-like passages is also regular after 6:30. All five checking stations are open but the x-ray machine in Station 5 is out of order, so that only people without a purse, knapsack, food bag, and the like are allowed to approach it.

We were once again impressed by how poorly this major checkpoint, through which thousands of people pass each day, is managed. Until 6:30 A.M., no officer appears on site to supervise it, and managing the checkpoint is essentially left in the hands of Israeli teenagers who appear to take no pride in their work and project to the Palestinians that they couldn’t care less whether the checkpoint operates properly or not. We cannot come up with any other explanation of why, for close to half an hour, the woman soldier opened only two of the three turnstiles when the third was in proper working condition.