Qalandiya
A (relatively) good morning at Qalandiya.
05.15. With days getting shorter, it is still quite dark at this hour, and cold. Inside the shed we were happy to see there were no lines, and the turnstile next to the soldier’s cubicle was left open. The beigel seller was back. 4 checking stations were open, and soon after, the fifth one opened.
Our friend H. called to greet us from the line at the checking station. As lines began to form at the checking stations, the soldier closed the turnstile, but lines hardly extended beyond the cages.
Next week there will be Eid il-Adha from Tuesday till Friday. We will try to come on Sunday or Monday instead.
Towards 6, we went outside. We saw that the pavement edges of the new road have been painted, and there are markings for pedestrian crossings. It seems that at the new roundabout there will be only public transport and private cars will leave from a road that will be paves at the end of what was once the parking lot.
Actually, it would have been possible to drive on this road via the ‘private’ parking lot at its end, but there was a van there blocking the way.
When we returned the soldier had been replaced by a woman soldier. The turnstiles were closed, but every time they were opened everyone waiting was allowed through. Later, only the leftmost turnstile was left open and everyone arriving went through. Everything was quiet and calm this morning, in contrast to last week. At about 6.15 two D.C.O. soldiers arrived, but they left after a few minutes, realizing there was no need to open the humanitarian gate.
At 6.30 we also left and within 15 minutes were outside. There we met Mohammad, the patient from the Jordan valley, and took him to Hadassah Ein Karem.
Last week we saw a rare sight – a streetcleaner was sweeping and gathering litter on the Israeli side (remember that both sides of the checkpoint are the responsibility of Jerusalem municipality). This week the litter had once again piled up…
