Bethlehem and surroundings, Sunday, 9.4.2006, AfternoonObservers: Ilana h A. Hagit Sh.(reporting) Al-Aruv: Noon time is when the school children studying at Bet-Omar go back home. We saw soldiers on the hill overlooking the southern entrance of the refugee camp. One jeep and then another were parked on the western side of road 60, opposite the same entrance. We heard from the locals that twice a day, in the morning and in the afternoon, the army gets ready for the confrontation. We saw pupils coming from Bet-Omar in buses going into the camp. Also college-students (the college is located opposite the refugee-camp) returning home. They crossed road 60 on foot, opposite the same camp entrance. Today there were no confrontations with the army. We spoke with a few college students, boys and girls, with a teacher, with people living in the camp and with the officer in charge of the unit serving at this point. The officer confirmed that in the past at this point there were many cases of students throwing paint cans, stones and even Molotov bottles at cars on road 60, but recently it hardly ever happens. We reminded him about the two boys who were wounded not a very long time ago by rubber bullets (we met one of the boys; his arm was in a cast, the other boy was hit hard in his jaw and hospitalized at Hadassah). We told him what we heard from the locals about the soldiers provoking the students. We also reminded him about the boys and the children from Bet-Omar, whom we saw recently at the military court, waiting for detention-extension because of throwing stones and Molotov bottles. Another incident which we witnessed three weeks ago: soldiers chasing children with drawn guns at the northern entrance to the camp, the one opposite the observation tower. The officer explained that he was in charge of the unit operating at the southern entrance, and he did not know what was happening at other points, even the ones very close to him (it sounded dumb, but actually gave an example to the apathetic attitude, of which we saw an extreme expression later during the day at the DCO). He said that the open-fire instructions were changed recently (he also said that these instructions change very often) and that is why, according to him, during the last months there were almost no confrontations between the army and the students. We understood from his words that he does not deny the claim that the army’s presence ignited the confrontations. A teacher said that the kids who were throwing the stones were very certain children, known to everybody, and they were uncontrollable. Some people talked about the stone throwing incidents and the army reaction. Others spoke about the soldiers entering the camp and the homes mainly during night time, some mentioned the difficult situation, the growing unemployment, the difficulty in finding livelihood, and the traffic limitations etc. At the entrance to Bet-Omar there were a few cabs and less people crowded around us, and there were no people asking for advice or help. Ezyon DCO: We returned north to the DCO. On the way we saw soldiers marching along the road 60, south to Ezyon junction. At the Ezyon CP junction there were no soldiers. At the Ezyon DCO there were about 300 people between 13:30 – 14:30. Some were sitting in the shed, some were crowded in front of the new carousel,that was controlled by an invisible soldier, and through which they pass to the windows. The windows were, after the upgrading of the place, invisible too. The loudspeakers were heard calling names from time to time, and the voice was harsh and threatening. Many waited outside. People were waiting from 8:00, and the issuing of magnetic cards was very slow. We held a long and nerve wracking conversation with Eyal, just as the morning team did and the team the following day did. We tried unsuccessfully to cause the administration people to intervene, because there were moments when the tension came to a boiling point. One of the nervous waiting people banged on a metal sheet and this caused Eyal’s deputy to come down with three other soldiers and “put things in order”. They locked the shed’s entrance door, probably they thought that they could control the situation if they stopped more people from flowing inside. We suggested that they hang a sign and on it with specifications of the matters which will not be treated today such as, for example, certificates for merchants and workers that are not issued as long as the closure continued. There were people waiting for these certificates. Some were waiting for Maher (the policeman) but he was absent and will be back only in a few days. He told me on the phone that he will be at work during the holiday; I am not sure which days he meant. .