Bethlehem, Fri 18.1.08, Morning

8:50- On the Hebron road we had passed by some military jeeps. A bus and a minibus were waiting at the parking lot and all those coming out of the checkpoint were sent directly to the lot. There were also white and green security cars at the lot. At the square in front of the gate in the wall were three more jeeps. We later understood that it was all set for the occasion of the coming of the Armenian patriarch- it was the Armenian Christmas. When we got out of the checkpoint we managed to see the passage open and the high ranking commanders at the area, observing it and waiting.

There were two open posts, one was manned by the military police. One officer was downstairs and a security man was walking about the upper area. Some of the Palestinians that had questions were sent upstairs to the security man and not to the rude soldier in the both that didn't respond to their questions. Afterwards more officers arrived and security men. It was freezing- the door was open and the building isn't sealed against the cold.

At first the line on our side was long, but it quickly became shorter. A fourteen year old girl wanted to pass together with her brother, to Jerusalem. We tried finding out what the problem was. She had a birth certificate but not a Kushan- eventually she was allowed to pass. On this day, as on other Fridays, there were several men who wished to pass with their children, but they were sent back under pretext that their neither their work permits nor their permits to stay in Israel, grant then a passage. Israel grants passage for work forces not for people.  

9:30 We left for Beit Omar.

Beit Omar

10:00- we handed over fines and documents we got from Haya O. One person got a letter explaining why he didn't get his renewed license yet from Ras El Amud- it got stuck someone in the mail. Someone else had paid his fines but his license was still confiscated.  

10:05- We headed back. At Al Nashnash were some parked jeeps. 

Hebron Road was still partly blocked by jeeps that were waiting for the Armenian patriarch.

At the exit from the parking lot, in the direction of the checkpoint, was an officer called Yoav that was walking towards us telling us that he was the checkpoint commander, and that we weren't allowed to enter and especially not stand by the inspection posts. He had a helmet and a bulletproof vest on, and was accompanied by a security man.

Yoav and the security man stayed by the car inspection post. We slowly continued further to the checkpoint while called other members of our organization. The minibuses filled up in the usual rate. As soon as we got near the path Yoav appeared from the building with the security man, yelling at us to go back.

At the beginning the calls we made didn't help. Ronni, the checkpoint commander, wouldn't answer and the Humanitarian Center pointed out to us that they serve only Palestinians and that we should call the center for civil complaints at the Central Command. We went back to our car to check whether we had the necessary paper and try calling again. One of the security men was walking about the parking lot and keeping his eye on us.

Eventually we reached Ronni (perhaps by coincidence we reached him through his less known number). Ronni said he would talk to Yoav and that we could head back to the checkpoint. Obviously, Yoav had already left, and one of the security men greeted us.

9:20- Two posts were open and the lines were long. A group of tourist was entering and taking photos. At first they didn't realize that the same post served both coming out of Bethlehem and entering it. 

The lines grew longer. We called the Humanitarian Center. We heard shouting from the other side of the checkpoint. An elderly man who had an appointment at Hadasa asked that the security man let him pass to the other lane because the computer was stuck. After a couple of minutes one of the officers came out to man another post, the lines gradually became shorter.  

9:50 – We left.

We headed on the tunnel road and back to El Hader and then to Jerusalem through Beit Jala and Walja.

There were no soldiers at Beit Jala, at Wallja there were 3 soldiers who asked how we were.