Bethlehem, Etzion DCL, Sun 1.8.10, Afternoon
14.15 pm, Etzion DCL: the waiting hall was empty, the soldier on duty was sitting in his place, and when people arrived they were taken in immediately. No-one had been waiting for a meeting with the GSS since the morning. Is this a sign that the GSS has at long last decided not to summon people to come at an early hour and force them to wait for many hours, or was this simply a short interlude because of the intense heat ?
An elderly couple who hadn't received the permits they had applied for came out and turned to us for help. We tried to help and shortly before 4 pm they continued in the direction of Bethlehem.
16.00 pm, Bethlehem - Checkpoint 300: when we arrived at the Etzion checkpoint, a car with a group of officers inside stopped next to us on its way out. During a conversation with them we complained about the unbearable situation at the Bethlehem checkpoint, in which only one inspection station is open at peak hours, there is a huge crush and passage through the checkpoint is extremely slow.
We asked them to intervene and they promised to deal with the matter. Apparently they did so because when we reached the Bethlehem checkpoint at an hour when a mass of workers arrive, we found three stations in operation and the passage through the checkpoint was quiet and fast.