Bethlehem, Etzion DCL, Nabi Yunis, Tue 24.3.09, Afternoon

General situation: heavy rain since two days. Cold. It might have been that in construction one did not work.

14:30 PM, Etzion DCL:  on the parking lot stood 4 empty cars, among the a taxi and a transit. A man was waiting for 1 hour and 40 minutes. About 14.40 some men were leaving the building. The taxi and one private car left. Another car was arriving. The driver came because of  a permit. He could pass the turnstile right away. At 14.50 we left.

Nabi Yunis:  the road to Chalchul was  full of taxis and transits.

There was a 'tea stall'. Besides the owner two other men were staying in the tent. The owner was offering us tea and a conversation. He showed us a "final order to discontinue work and to put down the tent".  If not it would be demolished. This was issued in January 09. He received others since. He is hoping to get a working permit. Another man was a Jordenian citizen, complaining  of being very harshly limited in his movements. He, could neither go  to Tel Aviv nor pray at Al Aksa mosque .In contrast to his situation Israelis would be allowed to travel all over in  Jordan. The third man in the stall asked if we could help him to get a magnetic card. He was denied renewing his card without explanation . We gave him Silvia's number. He also mentioned that 3 houses along the road were demolished.

16.00 to16.15 PM, Bethlechem Checkpoint:  we were staying there only from 16.00 to16.15, because it was windy, drafty and cold at the checkpoint. 5 counters were open. Very few people were crossing the checkpoint. There were no lines and sometimes the hall was empty. This might be dependant on the bad weather.