Etzion DCO (IDF Civil Administration office) Monday afternoon, 14 June 2004 Watchers: Hagit S., Shlomit S., Irus B. (reporting) Summary: Although the stories we were exposed to during the shift were not inherently different than those we hear at various checkpoints, and although we had not seen any direct physical violence, we all came out of the shift (and especially Hagit and I, for both of us first time in the DCO) really overwhelmed. I think what made it such an intense experience was the physical space of the DCO — we were trapped, together with the Palestinians, in this cage-like building, from which there is only a small entrance through barbed wires and a single passage to the soldiers (electronically controlled by them). The only means of communication with the soldiers inside the DCO building (10 meters away) was by telephone and sometimes through shouting to a soldier standing at the rooftop. The soldiers’ faces could not be seen through the thick glass. We all thought that it is very important for MachsomWatch women to go to the DCO at least once — it teaches many things that are helpful for understanding the way that the Occupation actually operates (but it absorbs much time and energy, so there seems to be no room on this shift for anything else apart from this visit). We arrived at the DCO at 15:30. Some 40 people were waiting, most of them from early morning. There was open sewage in the entrance (not as bad as a week ago, Major J. explained to us later on). The place is small and very hot, feels like a cage. The ventilators operate for 30 minutes and are then turned off, and in the water “cooler” there is only warm water. Slowly-slowly people approached us (or we approached them) to tell us/ hear their problems. We heard many stories but decided this report should focus on 5 main ones (in random order) just for the sake of brevity. Also, if any Watcher has an idea what we could do about specific cases, please contact me (Irus).1. A Bedouin citizen of Israel (from near Beer Sheva) asked for a permit for himself and his wife — she has a mental disorder, and at Soroka hospital they would not give her electroshock therapy because she doesn’t fit their treatment criteria. This is the only treatment that helps her, yet the only place that would do it (and did it 6 years ago) is the hospital in Bethlehem. Dahlia Bassa (DCO staffer in charge of medical issues) explained that Israeli citizens are not allowed into Area “A” [Palestinian controlled territory] in any case whatsoever. Hagit S. said she would look into the matter in other hospitals. Meanwhile the woman is in a very bad situation. 2. We spoke to a couple from the Old City in East Jerusalem, married for 16 years and living there all this time. The woman is originally from Bethlehem, and though she hasn’t been there for nearly 20 years and the center of her life is in Jerusalem (where her 5 children are residents), she needs to obtain a permit every three months to enter her own home area. So this is the regular procedure since 1996, when the “quiet transfer” of residents from East Jerusalem has started. This time she managed to get a permit only for 2 months and seemed very disappointed – this after waiting for some time for the magnetic card issued by the GSS [Shin Bet, Israel Security Service] as proof of a background check, required for obtaining a permit, which is always for limited period of time. 3. A 75-year-old man from Bethlehem approached us through a younger man: His 46-year-old son (who has 6 children) was acutely injured by a huge rock that fell on him while working in Bethlehem. They paid enormous sums of money to get him into Hadassah hospital (100,000 shekels) and then another 150,000 to get him to Herzog Hospital — apparently a place for very acute patients (used to be only for mental illnesses). His son is dying, and the DCO was willing to issue him a permit valid for only 3 days to go there. But he is a 75-year-old man and does not seem able to come and sit in the DCO again the whole day (he was there since 5 AM while we spoke to him about 17 PM) — plus he wishes to be at his son’s bedside as he is dying (the son is unconscious). This heart-breaking story did not seem to have much effect on M., the commander of the DCO that day. He yelled to us from the roof that the doctors did not write for how long the son would be there, and thus he gave only a 3-day permit. So after 12 hours at the DCO, the old man went back home. We wrote a letter for him, explaining to the doctor in Herzog Hospital what he should write in the letter, and gave our telephone numbers to the man and the young person that has helped him so patiently through this day. 4. An elderly man with a flight ticket for tomorrow to the US, where his wife has an appointment for an eye surgery, has been coming and going to the DCO for a week. They asked that he bring one more paper; he said he tried but they made some problems. Anyway, it was 5 PM when we had the yelling session with M. who said that it is too short a time to get him a permit through the GSS, so he should cancel (postpone) his flight [and, presumably, the surgery date?]. We tried to press through the “Humanitarian Hotline” (for medical cases; Shai, as Dahlia did not answer any more) and also through a commander that passed by (Maj. J.), who refused to tell us anything about himself (we overheard his name), but said he is M. and A.’s commander and promised to call M. and tell him to do something for this man. We waited with him outside the gate till 18:00 but no sign for M., who, we were told, was very busy and could not talk to us. We brought him to Al Khadr and exchanged telephone numbers to help him in the next flight. It turns out that last night at a quarter to midnight they finally gave him a clearance, so this story has a good ending – he received a passage permit.5. At 16:45 the soldiers suddenly announced that the gate is now closed (45 minutes before the official closing time) and a man that has just arrived with a Hadassah hospital appointment for the next day for his baby, so remained without being able to obtain a permit. Shlomit yelled up to the roof and to the phone, and suddenly the closing order was rescinded –: one window has opened again. But they gave him a one-day permit although the hospital letter said he had to stay with the baby till Sunday. After some more roof-yelling, the permit was lengthened till Sunday. Summary comment: All in all, the feeling at the DCO was of sheer humiliation and arbitrariness. We felt that eventually our presence did make a difference for some people (I didn’t mention another person that was refused a permit, although he works in Israel and has all the necessary documents; in this case our intervention got him a 3-month permit). Yet, in most cases, people are told to go and come back week after week, even for receiving a magnetic card (which is the basic condition for then applying for a permit). Needless to say, all the documents are written in Hebrew so most of the people cannot read them (so we performed also as translators).