Bethlehem, Etzion DCL, Tue 4.3.08, Morning

 
06:40, Bethlehem CP. Only four checking posts were functioning, and the lines were terribly crowded. People stood crushed against each other. We were told that it was not better at the other side. The commander, a very young second lieutenant, was quite helpless. According to him, all the other posts were out of working order for some reason. He was out there all the time, and has spent some five minutes talking quietly to a particularly angry man. He replaced a soldier who had to leave his post until the soldier returned. But he was unable to do anything about the inhumanity of this whole situation.
 
At 07:45 the pressure was alleviated, but this was no more than an illusion -- the entrance at the Palestinian side was blocked, and every time just few people were allowed in. Crowding on the other side, people told us angrily, was as bad as before.
 
08:30, Ezyon DCL. No one was waiting – apparently, all had been summoned inside.