Qalandiya
Returning after Ramadan and Shavuot.
06.00. Nowadays we come later as the Palestinians themselves arrive later, thanks to the easier crossing. On the Israel side there is still a lot of work in progress on roads and sidewalks. The checking machines that we had noticed,s on our previous visit, next to the doors in the wall have been removed. Presumably they were used on Fridays during Ramadan.
On the Palestinian side we were happy to meet our beigel-seller friend, Abu Ramzi, in his usual place. At the very entrance to the checkpoint stood a young man selling cakes from a carton. It was not clear if he belonged to the team running the kiosk, or one who used to sell cakes in the old shed.
The toilets, located in the old shed, were open and lit. Their entrance was relatively clean, but oh, inside… !
The tea kiosk, absent during Ramadan, has returned to its position at the far end of the checkpoint next to the parking lot, and now has seats in the shade.
We noticed that the parking lot had a big poster in honour of Ramadan, which we had not noticed before. Our limited ability in deciphering the Arabic showed us that it had been placed by the owners of the site – with the name in English as “Brothers’ Barking” as would be transliterated by native Arabic speakers.
We stayed for 45 minutes, all the time seeing people entering quickly the two entrances showing green signs; the third entrance had a red sign. Inside, we entered via two different checking stations, without delay.
The trip to the city centre was also smooth. There are signs of summer, although the summer school vacation has not yet started.
In conclusion, it seems clear that there is no need to come here every week as in the past.