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Bethlehem, Etzion DCL, Sun 22.5.11, Morning

Observers: Sylvia P., Ofra B., Hanah A. (reporting)
May-22-2011
| Morning

 

Bethlehem – Checkpoint 300, 7:10 am:  we found that on our side of the checkpoint there were only a few workers waiting(to be inspected). This time there was good news : passage through the checkpoint was smooth this morning and everyone had already passed through.  Inside, there were still four windows open and meager but rapid passage of people.

      07:55 am, Etzion DCL:  the door was already open, only a few people already inside.  A laborer with a hand-wound, whose arm and hand were properly bandaged, came to ask for an entry permit for continuation of his treatment at the Mukasad hospital. (He was injured at his place of work inside the Palestinian Authority and that is the reason that he did not get the permission). We helped him to go to the top of the queue, but by 08.50 no-one had come-out from being questioned inside.

We met our old friend Juliette who had arrived with her daughter-in-law who had come to apply for a new magnetic card. Juliette doesn’t work already because of bad health, but she was very happy to meet us again.

A young man from Silwan, who has a blue ID certificate, complained that his wife (he has been married for about 13 years) has had to live with her parents in Dehaishe for two years already because of her GSS-exclusion due to her brother’s imprisonment because of security concerns.  The couple have 5 children, of whom 3 live with the father, an Egged driver,.  The youger children, a pair of twins 3 ½ years old, live with the wife.  They see each-other only once a month.. In the past, for a period of 11 years, he had a family reunion permit. He did not ask for our help.

09.00am  We left the checkpoint in order to meet people in Nabi Yunis, but in the end nothing came out of this.  

  • 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   .
  • Etzion DCO

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    •   serves residents of Bethlehem and surrounding villages who need magnetic cards, work permits for Israel, permits for one-time entry for religious or health reasons, various police permits, etc.
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