Bethlehem, Fri 4.7.08, Morning

9:10 –10:10 AM, Bethlehem Checkpoint: Today things were better in comparison to the awful situation that has been prevailing recently: two booths were constantly open, there was no line and there were no shouting and humiliation.  

In two separate incidents people were sent back. They did not argue and we did not even have time to figure out if we needed to intervene. In one case a young, single woman arrived with a young boy of about 12 years old; she wanted to return him to his parents. She was told by the soldier that she couldn’t and the two left.

Some of the Palestinians told us that there are many people on the other side of the CP. They told us that a second booth was only opened at 10:00 despite the heavy traffic.

We were approached by a young ecumenical woman who told us that she was on vacation that day, but that they had people on the other side 4 times a week. She thought that the cooperation with Machsom Watch was very positive.