Bethlehem, Thu 20.8.09, Morning

Rachel Crossing:

6:20- Already many people outside. 3 checking posts are open..In the first booth a soldier is sleeping; in the last one, a female soldier does not let people pass and talks over the phone. It seems she has a problem with her computer, since after a few minutes another soldier comes, and then the booth is open. The soldier from the first booth is also wakened. The queues, long.

We are told by Palestinians that the checkpoint opened at 5:00 and that this week has been very bad at the checkpoint.

The soldier in the first booth is very rude and shouts at people, why do they wait in this queue instead to going to other queues and to "fly" from there.

From time to time, the crossing is stopped and we hear the noise from the mess on the other side. At 7:30, people still are crossing, but there is no pressure.