Morning

Approaching the tunnel road checkpoint (while on our way to al-Khadr) we noticed a group of some 12-15 Palestinian men who were standing on the side, appearing like "fresh" detainees. They were caught about one hour earlier, while trying to sneak to Jerusalem from Wallajeh, through fields and orchards. Some carried valid permits from the Civil Administration, which their employer, an Israeli Arab contractor, managed to arrange for them however, currently no one is allowed to cross legally. Other men in this group came all the way from a small village to the west of Hebron - leaving their homes at 4 AM, walking for miles in the dark, then managing to reach the al-Khadr area, only to be finally caught not far from the tunnels. One of them, in his late 40s, is a father of two University students (and another six children): a daughter who studies at Bethlehem University and a son, currently studying in Egypt (the Sixth of October University...), who is prepared to risk everything for the sake of supporting them. The soldiers manning the checkpoint were calm and relatively pleasant, without any pretensions to "teach the lawbreakers a lesson", as is often the case. IDs were returned at 7.45.A ride through the major roads that intersect the Bethlehem district showed barely a Palestinian in sight. It is not only the curfew regime, but also the fact that since the Palestinian (Jihad) operation in Hebron, it is completely forbidden for Palestinians to move on the roads !!! this means that even the yellow plated (Arab-owned) vehicles that were allowed to carry passengers within the Hebron and Bethlehem districts are prohibited from moving on the roads. As expected, there were no people at El-Khadr roadblocks, but for one exception: a 60 something year old woman, mother of twelve, from Batir, who sneaked (walking) into EL-Khadr the day before to share a fast-breaking Ramadan meal with her daughter and the daughter's eight children, and who now sought her way out, back home. We offered her a lift, but eventually could not help much, since the sole open road to her village goes all the way through Husan. Driving to Etzion Junction, we found the checkpoint there "idle" - with Palestinians not allowed to move, soldiers remain without "work". The single vehicle we could spot - A transit coming from the direction of Hebron - dropped its passengers some 500 meters before the checkpoint, from where they continued by foot to an unclear destination; one man said he was walking to Jerusalem, and in these days his words might be taken literally. At the entrance to the road that leads to Beit-Fajar stood a small group of Palestinians. Most of these have just returned from a failed attempt to sneak into Jerusalem for a day's work, and were now "killing time" before finally returning home empty handed. Two of the man with spoke with told us their story. Both live in the town of Halhul, both experienced ongoing unemployment, but recently the found a job with a Jerusalem contractor: for 13 days they worked at a building site in Kiryat Menachem. The 13th day was the day of the suicide bombing in this neighborhood (Thursday November 21st)... Since then they have not been able to go back. Yet, on each single day they try their luck - leaving home before dawn, walking by foot from Halhul to Beit Omar (at least 7 Km), then riding through unpaved roads until they reach the border zone, where they are finally caught and returned. This Sunday was no different, and as we spoke with the men their employer called one of them on the cellular. The worker pleaded the contractor to come and pick him and his friend from Tzur Hadassah checkpoint, telling him about the long journey they made, walking in the dark, but unsurprisingly the employer made his own calculations of "cost and profit". By now it was 8.30 and the two prepared themselves for their journey back home.