Friday, 04.11 in the morning.
The Palestinian health workers in front of the Israeli military checkpoint of Qalandia, between Ramallah and Jerusalem, finish the last of their cigarettes, coffees and falafel sandwiches because in a few minutes they will begin the Ramadan fast and they know, from experience, that they will need a lot of energy.
As it is the most important prayer of the week, the crowds gather for hours at the crossing - fasting - waiting for the Israeli border police to allow them to cross into Jerusalem to pray at the Esplanade of the Mosques, the most important place. sacred in Islam after Mecca and Medina.
For this reason, they spend the day attending to lipothymias, falls or requests for wheelchairs or walkers.
Seven hours later, the same health workers are chatting idly: there are too many for so little work.
To prevent attacks at such a hot time, Israel has tightened the requirements for obtaining special access permission for Ramadan.
It has only granted 10,000, for three million West Bankers.
Two new measures leave many at the door from the first hour.
The only men and women who can pass (over 55 and 50 years old, respectively) this time need a permit that is obtained through a mobile application.
And women can no longer access without age restriction.
The result: every few minutes an adult crosses back over the concrete threshold and hundreds of women wait for hours for their luck to change, some because they were unaware of the new rule;
others, as a form of protest.
For the Israeli border police who monitor the process, it is all a boring and annoying administrative procedure.
An old man rests on a stone in front of one of the entrances to the Qalandia post.Antonio Pita
Haline Salam, 68, and her husband who is 10 years older passed without problem the first concrete portals, where they are asked their age.
At the second control they had to show an electronic card and the special permit requested via mobile phone.
They are issued by COGAT, the body of the Israeli Ministry of Defense that manages the civil affairs of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.
“I am an older person and I don't know what an application is or what an electronic card means,” he says, more resigned than upset.
“We just wanted to pray and come back, nothing more.
And they have stopped us.
I don't understand what permission they want if I have the identity document.
I thought they would let us pass, like last year,” he adds without raising his voice.
The lack of information - especially at ages in which few use the internet or have smartphones - comes to light every now and then.
“They haven't even given me a reason to block me.
From what I understood, since I am over 55 years old (63), it was enough to come and that's it,” says Said Shimnawi, who has moved from the northernmost city in the West Bank, Jenin.
“I am Muslim and I wanted to go pray.
I have never been in jail.
What am I guilty of?
We are accused of wanting to go pray,” he adds with the prayer rug in his hand.
Haline Salam, 68, on the left, after being rejected with her husband at the Qalandia post, this Friday. Antonio Pita
Every case is a world.
Salah Yabarin, 67, does not have the permit because he deleted the COGAT application (necessary to manage permits to work, go to a hospital or visit a family member) when the war in Gaza began, convinced that Israel would use it to spy. your phone.
Suna Mustafa, 51, is well aware that he does not meet the requirements, but he trusts (“God willing,” he repeats incessantly) to cross into Jerusalem because “Allah is merciful” and because the Esplanade houses the famous golden dome under a famous golden dome. rock where Muhammad concluded an important episode of the Koran: his night journey on the back of a magical winged creature called Buraq.
“This Ramadan has no soul,” he laments.
Some drivers have a field day with the restrictions.
They offer seats in their car or minibus to reach Jerusalem through Hizme, a further checkpoint often used by Jewish settlers in the area.
Qalandia is within the city's municipal area because Israel expanded it from six to 76 square kilometers when it conquered the West Bank in the 1967 Six-Day War. Therefore, its residents and those of other neighborhoods on this side of the separation wall have yellow license plate (the same as the Israelis) that allows them to use it.
And, sometimes, some soldiers – in cahoots or bribes – turn a blind eye to the companions.
A crowd of Palestinians wait to cross the Israeli military checkpoint of Qalandia, to pray on the Esplanade of the Mosques on the first Friday of the holy month of Ramadan.Antonio Pita
At 03:30 some lucky ones with yellow plates were already seen on their way to the Hizme intersection to reach the first prayer, almost an hour later.
The few West Bankers with permission (4,500 men, the same number of women and 1,000 children) cannot.
It is only valid from 04:00 to 17:00.
They also miss the last prayer of the day and the possibility of staying the night, which they did have last year and is customary in the last days.
Everyone agrees that it is the saddest Ramadan, due to the situation in Gaza, where the Israeli invasion has already left more than 31,000 dead (some, family members or acquaintances), a humanitarian crisis and widespread destruction.
That is why, like many others, Dalal Etsharaf has not put up the usual decorations.
She left with her husband at 03:00 from her city, Tubas, and they arrived at the pass before dawn had yet broken.
“At this time there was already a crowd here last year;
This one is empty,” she laments.
Since they have done their homework and are over the minimum age, they cross.
But this year, alone.
The previous three were accompanied by their 17 and 20-year-old daughters, who this time are prohibited from entering, she explains.
Their faces do not show the festive atmosphere of these dates.
“What happened in Gaza has influenced all of us in our hearts,” Dalal admits.
“Last year we had passion, we celebrated it.
This is a painful Ramadan, the most painful, seeing all the people dying and starving in Gaza.
We sit at the table for
iftar
[the fast-breaking meal] and we are even sad, thinking of so many who cannot even drink in Gaza.”
A crowd of officers accompanies with a serious face the person responsible for the police operation, the commander of the Jerusalem district, Doron Turgeman.
There are 3,000 troops deployed for Ramadan, in which Hamas had called on the rest of the Palestinians to mobilize, but it is passing peacefully.
The Minister of National Security, the far-right Itamar Ben Gvir, wanted zero permits for West Bankers and even prevented the passage of Israeli citizens of the Muslim religion, but the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, did not take that step.
Israeli forces are tense.
One of the paramedics, Ahmad Abu Taher, head of ambulances at the Palestinian Life Society, explains that last year any of his team could enter the crossing to help the elderly and disabled with wheelchairs.
“Today they are only leaving one and threatening him not to leave in less than three minutes,” he says.
“There are fewer people to help anyway.”
The coordinator of the police operation and commander of the Jerusalem district, Doron Turgeman (on the left), in Qalandia, this Friday. Antonio Pita
One of the entrances (next to the old and famous ones painted with the faces of Yasir Arafat and the most popular prisoner, Marwan Barghouti) is intended only for people with difficulty moving, but dozens of women still crowd at the entrance.
A border policeman places a fence between the concrete barriers, just in case.
In a second entrance, with the gates closed and no sign of anyone to open them, dozens of others read the Koran or pray with a ring that they use as a digital version of the traditional Muslim rosary.
Fatma Abu Daer is one of them.
She is 24 years old, she knows that she does not meet the requirements and she confesses - half proud, half worried - that her family does not know where she is right now.
She says that last year she had surgery on both hips and this year it is triple important for her to pray in Jerusalem: thank God that the operation went well, ask him for help with her illness and “pray for the people of Gaza.”
Mazan Dawabshe is the same age, leads a group that has traveled from near the city of Nablus and appeals for patience: “We sacrifice hours here, which is nothing compared to the Gazans, who sacrifice with their blood.
"It's the least we can do."
A woman rests in front of one of the entrances.
In the background, painted with the faces of Yasir Arafat and Marwán Barguti. Antonio Pita
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