E - Qalqiliya,

E - Qalqiliya, Thursday 21.06.07 AM Nora R. (reporting)Gideon V., Eliya R. (guests)Translation: Galia S.Gideon, who joined us as a guest in the past and my daughter Eliya joined me today since Hanna, my shift colleague, couldn't make it this time because of a last minute commitment. On request, we started the checkpoints trip at Qalailiya.06:30 – Qalailiya passage.Next to the line of cars that pass relatively quickly, there is a long line of workers, each of whom with his plastic bag containing, as it seems, his meals for the day. The workers are called one after another to a window behind which a soldier checks the documents on the computer. Keying in all the identity numbers slows the process, and although the soldier works uninterruptedly, at least in our presence, the people have to wait a long time, which is quite exasperating, before they can get to their lands or their place of work. Talking to one of the workers, we have understood that most of them work in Alfei Menashè. The checkpoint commander comes and introduces himself. He is very polite but says he can do nothing to speed up the line ("We asked for another computer but the chances of getting it are slim").07:00 – Jit junction is empty and the checkpoints are unmanned. (For sake of the guests, I also made a short visit at Huwwara, where we met the parallel team).