Bethlehem, Etzion DCL, Tue 24.2.09, Afternoon

14:45 pm, Etzion DCL:   the space is heated!  Two men invited by Shabak waiting for 1/2 an hour -- one enters after a while the other is still waiting when we leave about an hour later. Another man came with his child to see the police to erase his name from the computer after standing trial and paying a fine of 1000 NIS for using a faked permit -- he hasn't worked for 1 year. Everything was cleared  3 weeks ago but his name still shows up on the computers.  A woman who was trying to get a  commercial permit was told to come back tomorrow.

4:00 - 5:30 pm, Bethlehem - Checkpoint 300:  long lines outside only 3 booths are open, people stand in two lines outside and let in 30 or so at a time. 20 minutes later another booth is open. There are about 10-12 people at each booth waiting 7-10 minutes to cross.

By 5:00 pm when the pressure lessens we notice a young man at booth #1 where detainees sometime wait. He's been there 40 minutes he said; the private guard tells me I may not talk to him that he is under investigation and will be released in time; instead we see the guards take the young man into their room, the young man's shoes are in the guards hands.We waited for a while infront of the door behind which the young man had disappeared.  Not knowing whether he may still be there, or being released throught another door in the huge and confusing checkpoint.

Question: who is the superior of these private guards? Are they legitimized to detain or to

arrest people at their own decision?