Bethlehem, Etzion DCL, Mon 21.6.10, Afternoon
Monday - Bethlehem day.
We arrived shortly after 14:00.
There was almost no one at the DCO. People submitting permit requests were asked to go the following day to the Palestinian coordinator to take the permits. We met a few acquaintances. We were updated with local news and went on to the checkpoint to be there before 16:00.
Two positions were open, Abu Rokon (DCO representative) was not present at the checkpoint: Shlomit phoned, and he said it would be okay.
It was orderly while we were there. Hagai was there, moved Shlomit to a corner, opened the door in the centre of the hall when more than fifty workers arrived, and those standing in line were not allowed to cross with all without examination, but had to go through a check.
When we sat outside, and many workers came, we saw from outside that there was a jam by the outer turnstile, the last one before returning home from a day's work.
We noted the taking of permit and id card for checking - and then, as the Palestinians had been complaining for a long time, it took 10-20 minutes for the check. What happens is a line of people and the soldier, male or female, sees on the screen that everything is okay, and let the people flow through - till there is a minute with no one in which they can check that the permit and id are right for the ones who have no magnetic card or for whom the system does not read his details automatically...
"The baker bakes and the butcher slaughters..."