Beit Omar, ETzion DCO, El Khadr, Beit Jala, Bethlehem Cp 300

Bethlehem, Tuesday PM, 07.12.04Observers: Ilana H., Noa R., Hagit S. (reporting)14:40-17:3014:40 Beit OmarWe stay at the checkpoint for a little while. The passage is open and there's plenty of traffic. The checkpoint is observed from the pillbox and 2 soldiers standing at its feet, on the road. The soldiers are unaware to the passage regulations, closure regulations, and didn't even know in what area they were stationed. They went to ask their officer, and we left.15:30 Ezion checkpointNo military presence.15:40 Ezion DCO15-20 people. A few at the windows (among them 2 women), the majority waiting to be called inside the carousel, and a few in the waiting room. The police window still open, but is to be closed in 5 minutes. We speak with several people and hear again and again the story of those who wait more than 2 years for the renewal of their magnetic card, are summoned every month to the DCO but then are delayed again without explanation. Among them there's a young man from Beit Jala who doesn't recieve a permit to visit his Israeli wife and daughter who live in Jerusalem, despite many costly attempts to get help from lawyers with experience in this type of problems. Another person tried in vain to find out by telephoning a window wether his permit is ready and can be recieved today, but none of the DCO workers we know has answered. El Khadr Haya O. informs us by phone that at 15:30 a BP jeep arrived from Hebron and detained for "routine check up" 60 people, among them one woman. Everyone was released within 1.5 hours, probably as a result of the interference of Eitan from the humanitarian center who Haya called and ask to intervene.17:00 Beit-JalaA very slow line of cars getting out of Beit Jala. Pedestrians walk by the checkpoint without being stopped for check up. We cross to the other side of the checkpoint to try to valuate the length of the line. It is very long.17:30 Checkpoint 300A line of cars going to Bethlehem, becoming shorter and longer during our stay according to the length of check up. The commander, Yoav C., explains there's a shortage in personnel. Under the tree, away from where we're allowed to stand, there are no detainees. Yoav explains that during the rain everyone was released. On the other hand, in the detainees shed there are 7 detainees, waiting over an hour under the guard of a BP officer. Each was caught by a different officer in the city, so each officer has "his own" detainee which is part of his own "output". When we try to speak with them one of them says angrily they are prohibited from speaking, telephoning, pissing and smoking. We apply to the officer in the investigation room for an explanation. He says everyone in charge (officer?) is allowed to determine his own restrictions, but there is no restriction on going to the bathroom. He ordered the detainees guard to take the detainee to pee behind the shed. Among the detainees there's a jew caught driving a palestinian who had no permit, who is detained as well naturally. The jew is not prohibited from talking and he keeps explaining to us his opinions on security, and speaks with the palestinian, whom he took in his car to keep him away from the rain, explaining to him the version he ought to stick to during investigation.The answer we got regarding each officer being able to determine his own restrictions makes us call Tal Shikma, commander of Checkpoint 300. He sends us Yossi Z., who seems to have been trained by a public relations specialist. Yossi says there are general obliging restrictions that regard everyone: No speaking or using a phone. As for smoking and going to the bathroom, it depends on the officer. The detainees can be kept up to 3 hours, or longer under a special order, but after 3 hours they must be served a meal. We ask whether the detainees are aware of these regulations. "Sure they do". We demand they be told so explicitly. Yossi sends the guarding officer to tell the detainees in the shed what he has just told us. The guard tells it in hebrew to one detainee and asks him to translate it to Arab for the others. The whole time the investigator continued his investigation behind the closed door. By the time we left, only one detainee finished being investigated but was not released. We were still not allowed to speak with him.