Al Nashshash, Bethlehem, Etzion DCL, Wed 10.9.08, Morning

Bethlehem - Rachel Crossing: the Palestinians are moving towards the checking booths at a very slow pace. Sometimes the soldiers have to stand and wait for them to come. According to the Palestinians the line on the other side of the wall is very long. There are apparently very few people in the internal room (there are no sounds coming from there). Since we are not allowed to pass to the other side we can only assume that the people are being brought in at a very slow pace. The result is that people start their work day tired and upset, and this during Ramadan, when they have to wake up even earlier.

Al-Nashshash: we met a Palestinian with whom we coordinated ahead of time. We took some documents and money to pass to his attorney to take care of some traffic violations.

Nebi-Yunes: a Palestinian man approached us on behalf of his neighbor. His 14 year old son had been summoned to court. He received a letter with a summons date, which stated that the reason for the summons would  arrive on a separate form that was supposed to be sent to the neighbor. However he never received the extra form and had no idea what the summons was about. We suggested that he should talk to the police men at the DCL.

Etzion DCL: the hall is full as usual. It is 9:00 am, and so far 20 people have been seen. We wrote down names and phone numbers of people so we could check by the end of the day how many people were shown in. The line is more orderly, since people are issued numbers when they come in, however if they are not admitted they must return on the next allotted day (which can be a week later) and are issued new numbers.