Qalandiya, Tue 22.10.13, Morning

Translator: Charles K.

The checkpoint was almost empty when we arrived at 05:40; everyone who came until we left at 07:00 crossed freely through the revolving gate in the left-hand lane. There was no need for the humanitarian gate, which wasn’t used. A DCO soldier went there at 06:15 but no one came; after a while she went back to where she’d been. A policeman sat in the aquarium by himself, occasionally referring people to empty fenced corridors. A man approached to thank us for being there, saying that when we’re here things are very good; yesterday, when we weren’t here, the lines were extremely long. Of course we couldn’t take credit for today’s conditions, but expressed our gratitude to him for making the effort to come over and thank us.

A word about the lighting on Highway, which connects Highway 443 with the Atarot industrial zone and the Qalandiya checkpoint. There’s no lighting beyond the first plaza (leading to the industrial zone); it’s been like that for a long time. Either there’s something wrong with that section of the road, or it’s simply that no one has bothered to replace the bulbs for a very long time (at least a year). It’s black as pitch, the road is narrow and in poor condition, there are no shoulders, traffic is heavy – including heavy equipment – and many people walk along the road from the checkpoint to the industrial zone. Whoever reads this, and knows which authority is responsible for this road (the Jerusalem municipality? The Mateh Binyamin regional council? God only knows; we’ll also try to find out), please, please complain seriously about its condition before a disaster happens!