Bethlehem (300)

Bethlehem (300) (Palestinian side)

4:00 – 7:00 am

When we arrived at 4 am, the checkpoint was completely packed. There was a long line that led into the parking area. The line did not seem to be moving at all. We walked up to the exit line / humanitarian line to see what was going on. The exit line area was filled with hundreds of Palestinians, all looking in the direction of the main line. Space was created by them to let us move to the front and then we realized what the problem was. Police officers, border police, soldiers and private security were standing behind the first turnstile and each permit was checked one by one. If someone was travelling on a permit that was specially issued for Ramadan, this permit was taken away and the person carrying it send back to Bethlehem. The checking was done very roughly, mostly due to the fact that the police men insisted that the Palestinians entered the turnstile one by one, which was an almost impossible task because of the immense pressure of the thousands of people waiting in line. The police men and private security shouted all morning, threatened with pepper spray, pushed people roughly, locked the turnstile when multiple people were inside it, locking them in the small space with numbers as high as 6. The heat inside the checkpoint was unbelievable. Twice the crowd started to shout more loudly and space was made to carry people out who had fainted while waiting in line. One of them recovered after receiving some water and fresh air. The other was carried away and we could not see what happened to him. Palestinians who were passing without a permit due to their age were also turned away. The humanitarian line was not opened all morning. We called the humanitarian hotline several times, explaining there were women and children there who had to pass, but we were told that the humanitarian line would not be opened at all that day.

When talking to some of the Palestinians at the checkpoint it became clear many of them had decided not to get in line. As explained by one man, “I’d rather lose my job than die inside the checkpoint today. Anyone who gets into this line is risking their life.” Another man said that today many bones would be broken due to the pressure of the crowd. He had also decided to miss a day at work rather than getting into the line.

When we left the checkpoint a little bit before 7, there was still a very long line of people waiting to pass. We estimate it would have taken people at least two hours to pass checkpoint 300 this morning.