The Olives Checkpoint: A small child was not allowed to cross to Jerusalem with his mother

Checkpoint 300 (Bethlehem), the southern American road, Ras el Amud; A-Tur (the building marked for demolition, Zeitim checkpoint

07:20 Bethlehem checkpoint (300)

The sidewalks and path to the checkpoint are crowded, filled with people. Workers wait for their employers, claim there’s less work. Many say they received the second vaccination in Israel and are waiting three months to receive the third shot. L. from Bethlehem calls; for two weeks she’s been blacklisted from crossing since receiving the third shot in the Palestinian Authority. She didn’t cross again today. She’s in despair; it’s almost Christmas and she needs the income more than ever. Goni and Sylvia have been dealing with her case for a week and sent all the necessary documents to the Civil Administration in Bet El. Later we discovered she isn’t the only one refused entry because she doesn’t appear in the checkpoint’s computer as having been vaccinated (the printed confirmation isn’t acceptable because it could be counterfeited). Today we learned that failure to update vaccination status in the checkpoint computers is a widespread phenomenon.

Not many people crossing on the Israeli side; the question is what’s happening on the Palestinian side. An article in “Sicha Mekomit” reports that the Palestinian side of the checkpoint has two revolving gates leading to eight initial revolving gates and inspection stations with metal detectors on the Israeli side, which causes the bottleneck at the checkpoint.

We’re welcomed politely at the checkpoint, not threatened by the security personnel. The checkpoint commander (a police officer) approaches us and tries to locate the DCO representative, who has left. So we can’t find out what the situation is with the computer and the Civil Administration. The checkpoint commander insists that as soon as the Palestinian Authority updates the vaccination record it’s also updated at the Civil Administration. Experience shows he’s wrong. L., along with all the other people who complained, returned to the Palestinian health authorities to determine whether they’d updated the Israelis – and were told “yes,” on the day of vaccination. Are the delays because of Hanukkah vacation of the Civil Administration staff, or is there another hidden reason? We received no answer.

The southern American road to Ras el Amud

We show Bruce the huge bridge over Nahal Dragot, connecting southern Jerusalem with the Mazmoriya checkpoint and Tekoa. Who, exactly, is this road intended for? At Ras el Amud, opposite the Mt. of Olives cemetery, we turn toward Abu Dis. We drive up to photograph the Cliff Hotel, slowly crumbling between the fences. That’s where we discuss the extensive survey now being conducted by the Custodian of Absentee Property, to examine the Tabu registrations of wide portions of Jerusalem. Were they there in 1967? Is their Tabu registration valid? If not – Yallah – the land belongs to the Custodian and is available for Jewish settlers. The Cliff Hotel is a cruel example of expropriation of privately-owned land – in 1967 the owner lived only 200 meters away.

A visit to an apartment building in A-Tur marked for demolition, near the Zeitim checkpoint.

Netanya participated in a demonstration here last Friday and we came to meet one of the residents. It’s a five-story apartment building constructed without a permit (because there are no permits). People have lived there since 2011. Ten years of legal struggles to obtain a permit, and multiple proposals by the residents, haven’t helped. Bruce Shaffer photographs the people who’ll be homeless (cf. photo). A few ruins of buildings nearby, but others are actually still standing. The sad argument is who’ll do the demolition – the residents themselves or the municipality at a cost of NIS 200,00 per family.

Zeitim checkpoint

It should have been quiet at this hour (9 AM), but the checkpoints are always full of surprises – usually unpleasant ones. Today a number of people are being turned back because their third vaccination confirmation doesn’t appear in the checkpoint computer. One person, who owns a business in Jerusalem and lives in Azariyya, separated from Abu Dis by a wall, was surprised to discover that the computer indicates he hadn’t yet received his second shot – though he’s holding in his hand the confirmation that he’d received his third shot ten days earlier. We call the Jerusalem envelope DCO, an officer answers, and again we hear the same story told by the Bethlehem checkpoint commander: As soon as the Palestinian Authority health department reports a vaccination, the Civil Administration computer updates the person’s vaccination status. In our previous shift we discovered that sometimes the problem is that the checkpoint computer isn’t fully synchronized with the Civil Administration computer in Bet El – but a delay of over ten days, at both Bethlehem and Zeitim? It’s more than an isolated incident. Has chaos descended on the Civil Administration, or did the Hanukkah vacation prevent updating information vital to the Palestinian subjects, who are in any case viewed as only marginal actors?

And by the way – we forgot to report that a small child who wanted to cross to Jerusalem with his mother was turned back because he didn’t have a prorty depeed. That’s also crucial to state security. Or the opposite, if you take the long view…