Etzion DCL, Mon 5.12.11, Afternoon

14:15 pm, Etzion DCL:   when we arrived, the parking lot was already full to overflowing, which didn’t augur well. Fifteen people were waiting in the hall, and we were told that about 50 more were inside !  Those waiting complained that the soldiers inside were not working, but were chatting among themselves, speaking on their mobile phones and resting.  
During the previous two weeks we witnessed a definite improvement in the functioning of the DCL, the speed at which people entered and exited was reasonable and people didn’t have to wait for many hours.  
We had hoped for an additional improvement and hadn’t expected a return to the previous slow rate, which is atrocious and damaging.
 

14:40 pm:

A few people were taken inside but no-one came out. At 15:10 we phoned the humanitarian center, and described the situation. As usual, they were polite and ready to help.

15:15 pm:

A man who had received his magnetic card came out. According to him, he had been waiting since 08:30 AM, and the man who came out next said that he had arrived at 08:00 AM.  However, a man and his wife who came out after them told us that they had arrived just a short time ago, were taken inside, waited for a short time and received their magnetic cards. We couldn’t understand why they, who had just arrived, received their cards immediately, whereas those who had been waiting since eight in the morning had to wait for long hours and only now received their cards.

An elderly woman who approached us had the answer to the cause of this strange order of priority which allows the last to arrive to come out first, and which arouses a perception of injustice and maltreatment. According to her, she arrived after 2 pm, was taken inside and there met her son who had been waiting since 09:00 AM.  When she entered, her finger-prints were taken, as was done to all the applicants who entered before her. Then she saw that the soldiers placed the sheets of paper on which the finger-prints had been recorded on a pile. Because she was the last, her prints were on top of the pile. Her magnetic card arrived, the soldier took her prints from the top of the pile, and called her to come and receive her magnetic card. She understood that her son’s finger-prints, together with those of all those who had arrived at the DCL first in the morning were at the bottom of the pile and therefore they were still waiting, while  the prints of the last people to arrive were at the top of the pile and they received their magnetic cards immediately and left the DCL.

The system of allocating the order of priority can easily be corrected by simply instructing the soldiers to place each new set of prints at the bottom of the pile instead of on top of it, and this will enable the magnetic cards to be distributed to the waiting people in the same order as they arrived at the DCL. It is worthwhile  suggesting to the officer commanding the DCL that he should  instruct his soldiers accordingly, in order to eliminate the prevailing injustice .

Eight people were taken inside at 15:35 PM.  At 15:45 PM it was announced that the hall was closing, in spite of the large number of people still waiting and in spite of the fact that the official closing time is 17.00 PM. We again phoned the humanitarian center and the hall was not closed. The soldiers worked at an accelerated speed and people started to come out one after the other. It’s a pity that the soldiers hadn’t  worked at this speed during the previous hours.

The last of those waiting came out at 17:05 PM.