Morning

Checkpoint 300, 06:30. Pedestrians: only blue ID cards were let through. Some cars with nuns passed after opening their trunks. Also 2 UN-vehicles with elderly Palestinians. A taxi with large-lettered PRESS on the back stopped near the checkpoint and dropped a large number of ultra-orthodox men (one had been folded up in the trunk) before he turned back and brought another load. They had cars waiting on the Jerusalem side of the checkpoint. We talked to a soldier who said that the total closure is not because of the suicide attack in Tel Aviv, but because of Abu Mazen (sic!). He and his friends had just completed an operation within the Bethlehem area and had brought two suspects back who were sitting on the curb with lots of soldiers around them (some even had fallen asleep on the sidewalk). Their handcuffs had been cut open. The soldier read the Letter to the Soldier and wished us luck with out work and hoped that soon all this would no longer be necessary... Etzion Junction, 07:15: Buses were 'processed' rather quickly and no passengers were sent back nor held up. Apparently only those with valid papers now board the buses and maybe the drivers really act as policemen. There was no line. A Bedouin truck driver from Rahat, loaded with what looked like the contents of several tents, on his way to Arad from Jerusalem, was held up and told to return. He was adamant that he did not want to 'waste' time and gasoline by driving around. We asked the soldiers and it transpired he actually wanted to 'visit' Palestinian villages on the way, which is forbidden on days of closure. So he continued to wait. We offered a young woman with a baby a lift, but she had her own car at the junction. She is from Jaffa, had visited relatives. Across the street from Tantur an older man was giving signs to young men within the compound who ran over as soon as the coast was clear. They noticed us watching and explained apologizing that they needed to come and earn some money.In El Khadr we wanted to visit the schools and saw that they were all closed. The place looked like a ghost town. Soldiers with drawn rifles, walking along the streets, told us that there was a closure. They wondered what we were doing there and asked whether we were permitted to walk around there. The taxi driver told us that today no one is allowed to pass Wadi Nar, neither by car nor on foot, and that there is a line of at least a thousand people there. He informed us that there is strike of all the workers in the territories and that that is the reason why there is no school. The man in charge of the taxi-station who knows us well said that his brother-in-law's car had been totally wrecked a week ago. His transit had stalled near Wadi Nar. The soldiers had told him to leave it at the side of the road until a tow-truck would arrive, but meanwhile they had exploded it. Equipped with the number of the jeep of the Border Police they had complained at the Police in Jerusalem and the matter will go to court. Back near Checkpoint 300 the soldiers and their captives had gone. We gave a woman with her elderly, sickly mother a lift to Augusta Victoria. They explained that the 'strike' of the Palestinian workers is because of May Day, but that they had called and gotten the proper permit for the doctor's appointment beforehand, so that they were able to proceed. Initially they were somewhat apprehensive of getting into the car with us, but then they were most grateful.