Morning

It was basically a calm shift. The soldiers seemed to be doing their job, but the atmosphere was very intense - there were many alerts (tomorrow is a big day in Ramaddan, so there was alot of tension): One commander said the alert was for 6 Palestinians with bombs - two of them women. They had their first ID numbers, so they were searching women as well. Another commander said the warning was of a car -"car bomb" - so they were searching intensely in all cars. We were preparing to leave when we were approached by a Palestinian that said that in the village of El-Khadr itself the border police detained some 15 men. We approached the soldiers near the Mosque. One of them already knew us from a former shift - and seemed undisturbed by our presence, but the commander didn't know us - so he came out of the jeep and immediately told us that this it is so dangerous we cannot even imagine and that we must clear out of the place at once. While we were there, 2 frightened young Palestinians came to us and asked for help:their IDs were confiscated by soldiers that had left the place and then were nowhere to be found. "Our" soldier helped and they got their ID's back in no time. At El-Khadr, there is new barbed wire (when we asked the commandr about it he said that it is intended for cars not to cross. They checked every ID to make sure it is not one of the IDs they have listed as terrorists. Bethlehem: The soldiers seemed angry at us. Seeing us from afar they told us to clear the place at once (waving their hands), and when we did as they said - one of them ran after us and called us back... The commander invited me over and said I could sit with him in the "Butke".. I thanked him but said i preferred to stand from the outside. They checked everybody - but the check was very fast and polite. They were angry at us because of M (who was detained on Sunday, after, as they claim - she called them "Fascists"). The commander said they have nothing to hide.Before leaving - 3 women came running to us begging for our help - 10 meters after they passed the first blockade succesfuly, there was another one - this time their IDs were confiscated - we asked some questions and their IDs were given back to them.