EDITOR’S NOTE: The Qalandia checkpoint between the West Bank and Jerusalem began as an Israeli effort to stop suicide bombers and has become a source of frustration for thousands of Palestinian commuters. Associated Press correspondent Ben Hubbard crossed through the checkpoint on five consecutive days to report on this human bottleneck caused by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
By BEN HUBBARD
Associated Press Writer
QALANDIA CROSSING, West Bank – The journey to Jerusalem, for tens of thousands of Palestinians, begins in a dank, trash-strewn hangar.
They move through cage-like passages and 7-foot-high turnstiles to be checked by Israeli soldiers from behind bulletproof glass. The soldiers often yell at them through loudspeakers. They are supposed to work in pairs to speed the lines through, but sometimes one of them is asleep, his feet on his desk.