Beit 'Inun, Beit Ummar, Bethlehem, Etzion DCL, Nabi Yunis, Mon 8.8.11, Morning
There are two inspection stations open, and few people passing through. Passage through the checkpoint is fast. The soldier in the inspection station asks us to stand next to the wall, but we refuse to submit to this punishment.
08.00 Etzion DCL
About 60 people are waiting, with relatively many women. A man tells us that he was here yesterday morning from 08.30 until 16.30 but didn’t succeed to enter, although he was number 13 in the queue. The soldier told him that the computer had failed and no-one knew when it would be repaired.
08.45 Beit 'Inun
A fuel tanker is transferring gasoline back-to-back into a smaller tanker. The driver from Tarkomia tells us that when the tanker to Beit 'Inun is full he will continue from Nabi Yunis to Sa’ir and Shavivcha on a narrow and winding road. However, when only some of the fuel is for Beit 'Inun he travels on a shorter and better road – Road No 60 – until he reaches the cement obstruction blocks, and transfers the gasoline there, also back-to-back, into a tanker that comes from the other side of the blocks, from Beit 'Inun. Which option is preferable? Both of them are lousy . . . .
09.00 Nabi Yunis
We took care of paper-work for two Palestinians.
Bethlehem - Checkpoint 300
On our way back to Jerusalem we stopped at Bethlehem - Checkpoint 300. At the entrance and in the hall there are signs on the wall “ Keep the place clean and tidy”. The filth piled-up over the length of the path to the entrance is disgusting. Who exactly should keep the place tidy? It seems to me that the (Israeli) authorities are responsible! There isn’t even one dust-bin there for goodness sake!