ETzion DCO, El Khader

Etzion DCO El Khader, November 29, 2004, P.M.Observers: Shlomit Sh., Yael Sh. (Reporting)13:30-16:30A beautiful, cold winter day.El Khader – An army jeep was there. One of the soldiers asked what we were doing there. I answered, “We are making sure that you will not demand of any Palestinian to play his violin.” He replied, “ Not here; we are not that way.” The only Palestinian detainee present received his ID back from the soldiers, and the jeep took off. Meanwhile everything was flowing as usual.In Etzion DCO There were medical issues, and Dalia [health coordinator at Civic Administration] was in meetings all day. Azhar answered my phone call while driving, after which he no longer answered; no one answered. A merchant asking to travel inside the territories was turned back. A discussion with Talia, the Civic Administration Spokesperson, revealed that there has been no policy change in the past week. Why did the merchant not receive a permit?An interesting medical case – A three-year old was transferred from one of the hospitals near Bethlechem to Hadassa Ein Kerem without prior coordination with the Civic Administration. His parents were not permitted to accompany him, so he traveled alone and was hospitalized alone in the children’s section. The parents, then, came to ask for a permit to be with their child. Shlomit discussed the case with Hadassa and others involved. It turned out that the father is prohibited by the police. Mahar got involved in the matter immediately, removed the restriction, and the parents received a three-day permit. A peculiar detail in this story is the soldier at the reception window asking that the father show that he can pay 50,000 shekels to Hadassah. That soldier was wearing a large, white yarmulke clearly visible through the reception window.Aside from that, all was as usual. Invitees to the General Security Service were called in for their meetings; only one remained past 16:00, yet to be called in. Magnetic cards were issued to two women. Two commercial permits for time of closure were also issued. Those denied for security reasons were sent back and were asked to return in a month. Cab owners received payment coupons from Mahar. I am not clear as to whether or not entry permits into Israel are issued during time of closure.Since we were at the DCO over two hours, I can say that the number of those arriving at the DCO today is significantly smaller than last year. The number of permits issued is also smaller.