Bethlehem

The reimposition of general closure on
the West Bank this morning at least relieves the Palestinians of
the outrageous lie concerning the supposed earlier lifting of the
siege to which they are subjected. As of today, terminology
("closure") again matches reality. Our experience at this
morning proves that Palestinians are currently facing even tighter
and stricter restrictions of movement than before.

Etzion, 07:30. Three busses parking at the compound. The new
regulations: Whereas last week all women and all men above 35 were
allowed to cross from the Hebron district to the Bethlehem
district, today no one was allowed to cross to Bethlehem without
valid work permits, or other special permits issued by the civil
administration. All people, including women and the elderly, were
ordered off the bus to undergo lengthy ID checks, after which many
were not permitted to complete their journey. Waiting time inside
the bus prior to the checks was very long (over 30 min.), so all in
all, each bus was stopped for about an hour (note that the distance
between point of departure (Halhul) and last stop (al-Khadr) is
around 17 km). The soldiers seemed unaware that this was an
internal checkpoint, rather than a border one, and repeatedly spoke
of "tightened closure restrictions". Nonetheless, being
newcomers, they were somewhat more open to 'deals and
negotiations'. Some of the more determined passengers denied
passage did not retreat, and remained standing at the fence. A
woman in her 30s, body covered with a jilbab (long all-covering
coat), her hair with a scarf, was on her way to Ramallah hospital
with her husband, where she was to undergo IVF treatment today.
After a lot of give and take regarding documents, including a
telephone security check, they were finally permitted to pass. We
had a similar success with a couple of other people. Laborers
working in Bethlehem were among the least fortunate this morning,
with almost all of them rejected: a family of stone-cutters from
Hebron, including father, sons, and some other close kin, were
caught while trying to trick the soldiers and re-board on the bus
without being noticed. Soldiers "taught them a lesson" in
the sun. Most of these incidents were filmed by the NBC
team.

El-Khadr, 09:45. About 15 Palestinians were lined up on the road
margin, next to a border police jeep. These were men who about an
hour earlier in Etzion were allowed to journey to al-Khadr. Their
bus was stopped on the main road by a border police ambush, their
IDs taken, and here they were drying in the sun waiting for
"Security clearance", though the border policemen knew
they had just undergone a security check in Etzion. When clearnce
arrived, all but one ID were returned. By this stage a brand new
police vehicle pulled over, with a high ranking officer. When we
told him about the harassment, he said that he doesn't answer to
us, and we should not raise our voices at him. We retreated with
the last detainee, who mysteriously ceased to be a suspect.