Bethlehem, Fri 19.9.08, Morning
09.30 -11:30 AM, Ramadan, morning shift, Bethlehem Checkpoint Palestinian Side: there were already huge crowds there and there was great pressure. The army was represented by the civilian administration, the border police, and an army unit which was apparently brought there for local security. The police and the border police operated inside the “terminal”. 18,000 people passed through today on their way to their prayers. (The checkpoint was designed to handle only 3000-4000 people per day).
In order to ease the pressure, the women were not channeled through the usual passageways, but through a special route that was opened for this purpose; their inspection was performed in an area at the side-exit of the checkpoint. There were not enough buses to handle the demand, and this caused tension in the area next to the checkpoint.
The pressure at the first entrance of the womens' queue was high and they tried to by-pass the confusion by climbing over the concrete barriers. The civil administration
officer who was there, major Nevuani, succeeded, in a pleasant and polite manner that is worthy of note, to persuade the women that they should return to the queue, and the line began to flow. Later -on, we passed near the entrance and saw a large gathering of women there, and it appeared that once again the queue was not moving. We drew the officers' attention to this, and this helped to solve the problem.
In the mens' queue there was a lot of pressure, and strict inspection of permits and age categories. Invalids were allowed to by-pass the queue and to go through a steel gate in the wall, which was open during the whole morning. The border policemen performed the inspections at the first entrance. The pressure there was great and many tried to shove their way into the queue, which increased the pressure even more. Only after Yevuani's intervention was order restored, and the pressure was relieved.
The commanders of the Etzion DCL and the border-police battalion were present during the whole morning and this contributed a lot to the (smooth) proceedings at the checkpoint.
Many people were disappointed that they were not allowed to pass through for their prayers. It became clear that only five-hundred people from the Bethlehem and Hebron area had requested permits to pray. Was the reason for this political ? Were people aware of the possibility to request a permit for prayer ? Is the procedure for requesting permits too time-consuming ?
When we left at 11.30, most of the people had passed through and the checkpoint was starting to empty.