Bethlehem, Sun 1.8.10, Morning
07.00 am, Bethlehem – Checkpoint 300: when I entered the checkpoint terminal, Palestinian workers outside told me that today "everything is flowing but with difficulty". They reported that the passage through the checkpoint took 40 minutes. However, the reality at seven o'clock in the morning was different and much worse.
The exit door of the terminal was half closed. Three inspection station windows were open but there was no-one there. Outside there was a noise of a mass of workers. Suddenly several tens of people were released and they filled the hall. Passage through the terminal was slow, apparently because the soldiers were from a new group. One of them even called-out to me to find-out who I was and what I was doing there – which held-up all those waiting. I rebuked him and phoned the Humanitarian Center. The Palestinian women reported that the passage intended for them had not been opened.
There were several "waves" like this: an empty hall that filled up with a seething crowd. Repeated calls to the center and then to the Liaison Office eventually brought the sympathetic "A" to this side of the checkpoint. He didn't try to gloss-over the problem, clarified the situation and spoke to the "green" soldiers who were doing everything slowly. However, everything repeated itself : an empty hall, full on the other side, a new wave arrived which passed through slowly for another hour.
08.00 am: the hall emptied and no-one remained on the other side.
It was a black day for those passing through the Bethlehem Checkpoint.
Bethlehem (300)
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Located adjacent to the Separation Wall ("Jerusalem Wrap") at the north entrance to Bethlehem, this checkpoint cuts off Bethlehem and the entire West Bank from East Jerusalem, with all the serious implications for health services, trade, education, work and the fabric of life. The checkpoint is manned by the Border police and private security companies. It is an extensive infrastructure barrier and is designated as a border terminal, open 24 hours a day for foreign tourists. Israeli passport holders are not allowed to pass to Bethlehem, and Palestinian residents are not allowed to enter Jerusalem, except those with entry permits to Israel and East Jerusalem residents. Israeli buses are allowed to travel to Bethlehem only through this checkpoint.The checkpoint, which demonstrated harsh conditions of crowding and extreme passage delays for years, started employing advanced electronic identification posts and has upgraded its gates' system as of the middle of 2019 - and conditions improved.Adjacent to the checkpoint, in an enclosure between high walls and another passage, is the historic Rachel's Tomb, which is now embedded within a concrete fortified building. It contains prayer and study complexes for Jews only, as well as a residential complex. updated November 2019 .
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