Bethlehem (300)

Bethlehem 

09:00 to 11:00

For some reason they closed the parking lot. I stepped out from the car to remove the temporary checkpoint that was placed there but a soldier ran up to me from the window and explained that there is a "new law" and that the parking lot is only for "security employees." 
An argument with him did not lead to anything and he just repeated that it is a new law. I parked on a dirt area not far away. A few minutes later Efrat was able to park there when a jam was created because of a truck. Army rules are extremely frail.

A lot of people have passed today, including many children. On the Israeli side the passage was fairly quick and once there was a line of people checking was swift with no need for fingerprints, or a soldier stood between the windows and passed people quickly. 
By the noise we heard from the Palestinian side of the checkpoint the pressure was great but the people did not complain when they passed. 
Several groups of tourists passed on their way to Bethlehem. 
There were no international volunteers today.