Bethlehem and Surroundings Sunday PM 30.01.06 Observers: Ora, A, Shulamit, S. (reporting) We arrived at the DCO, and as usual, the machines that supply the magnetic cards didn’t work as of 11:00 am. We turned to Eyal, and he said that there is a mechanical problem (at first he said everything is OK), and after about half an hour – at around 14:30 – the system was working again. As usual, the main problems were with those whose request was denied by the Security Service – among them a teacher aged about 60 with 6 children. To all those who were denied a permit, we gave Sylvia’s phone number.A man with a sick child, who is being treated in “Hadassah”, was permitted to visit the hospital. A woman, who had an appointment with a doctor at the Augusta Victoria Hospital In Jerusalem, did not receive a permit, since her son was denied a permit by the Security Service. She was referred to the Palestinian Liaison Office. When we were in the DCO, we were told that there is a sign up that says that those who do not have Israeli ID cards are not allowed to travel on the road. We went down to see with our own eyes the “Apartheid” sign, written in three languages. The good thing about the checkpoint is that the soldiers were polite, and even used words such as “Shalom”, “Please” and “Thank you”. A very pleasant innovation. Checkpoint 300There were laborers coming back from work. A man, holding a green ID card, who lives on the Israeli side of the wall, crossed over from his home to Bethlehem, but his 14 year old son, was not allowed to go with him (they cross the checkpoint, sometimes a few times a day.) The soldier said he doesn’t feel like it. A talk with Eyal in the DCO solved the problem.A young man, who lives in Beit Zafafa, born in Beit Jallah, was not allowed to go into Bethlehem. We didn’t drive southward, since there were stones were being trown inEl-Arub.