Bethlehem

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Jun-10-2003
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Bethlehem - checkpoint 300, 07:00.
There is total closureinfo-icon, passage only for humanitarian cases,
internationals. No passage for cars. Merchandise passes only in the
back-to-back method. There were about 10 border policemen from the
on alert, equipped with helmets and body shields, guns raised --
tense. The commander said closure was total since yesterday, by
order of regional army commander, becase of warnings of terrorist
attacks. There were about 20 detaineesinfo-icon -workers trying to get into
Jerusalem, most of them with permissions of passage during closure,
who where caught trying to bypass the roadblock. They were held in
an asbestos shack and requested our help. Although the border
policemen spoke to us roughly, they did release the detainees
within 5 minutes, sending then back into the Bethlehem area. One
who had a hospital appointment was allowed through.

Al Khadr, 07:30. Free pedestrian (no cars pass here) in and out of
Bethlehem- Beit Jallah. Buses, transit cars and taxis, with Israeli
or Palestinian number plates, were dropping off and collecting
passengers freely. Here, 5 kms from checkpoint 300, there was no
alert, no closure... There was one blue police car at the junction
that left the place after 20 minutes, and one border police jeep
that stood around. Some time after we arrived, one of the policemen
started to detain passerby at random. As soon as the jeep commander
(who knows us) saw us, he commanded his men to release the
detainees and the jeep left the place.