Qalandiya

We arrived at the CP shortly before 4 PM and found three passageways in operation.  Today there were more people than usual at the CP – there were about 10 people in line in each of the passageways.  There was also a long line in the bus passenger passageway at the western end of the CP.  At least 30 people were waiting in line there.  No one was waiting to enter the DCO offices.

In order to observe the passageway for bus passengers, Natanya and I stood close to the fence surrounding the northern parking lot.  Our presence disturbed the civilian security guard and he started shouting at us to move away from the fence.  When we asked him why, his answer was “because…”.  We could see lots of people actually walking around among the cars in the vehicle CP.  No one was asking them to move away.  We couldn’t understand why we were perceived as endangering security.

Meanwhile, back in the CP, Passageway 2 had closed down leaving only 2 active passageways.  And just then an old, disturbed beggar woman entered Passageway 1 and stood crying in front of the soldiers in the aquarium, refusing to leave.  She effectively shut down the passageway as the soldiers hadn’t a clue how to deal with her.  We tried to alleviate the problem by calling Headquarters and describing the situation.  But then Nasser appeared, hurrying to the evening shift at his place of work in Atarot Industrial Park.  He saw what was happening and called the woman by name (Miriam).  Miriam immediately came out of the passageway, which resumed operations.

We left Qalandiya at about 5 PM.