Bethlehem. Tuesday PM, 29.8.2006 Observers: Yael I., Ruth O. (reporting) From 3:00 till 6:00 PMAl Aroub, Etzion DCL, CP 300On road 60 things are as usual, general high speed and a road block by the CP at the entrance to the tunnels in the direction of Jerusalem.At El Aroub no armed soldiers are seen by the Hummer parked beside the observation tower, and no detainees stand there.At the Etzion DCL many people crowed by the turnstile, nobody sits in the stinking shed, where the ventilators operate in vain. To our surprise we saw a worker with a water hose in his hands cleaning the women’s lavatories. Unfortunately we did not ask him by whom he is employed, neither do we know if this was a cleaning operation or if it was a blockage he repaired. In any case it does not seem the men’s cubicle got any treatment because the stench was as bad as usual. The first person we confronted came out with a refusal in his hand. He had an appointment for two days later at the Mukased hospital with a complete description of his medical problem. Attached to his papers was a hardly legible note saying he has to apply three days in advance, because he is GSS restricted. Nobody took the trouble to explain to him what he has to do. Only after we spoke on the phone to one of the officers (Roi), it turned out that he has to ask for a new appointment and then come three days before that to ask for the “Tasrich” (permit). This is probably a justified demand, and when we explained to the man what he has to do, his face lit with relief, now there is a way! But why can this simple explanation not be given by the people in charge?The second man, said he has been there since 8 in the morning, but somehow missed the handout of the queue numbers. He came to renew his magnetic card that expires at 4.9. He has a son at the oncology ward in the Hadassah hospital, suffering from a brain Tumor. Since he had no number it seemed he will not get in. He spends all his days by his son’s bedside and has neither time nor patience to spend another day at the DCL. We had a tiny success persuading Roi to let him in without a number. The man actually came out with his request answered and was very grateful. His sad eyes keep following us. We still can not understand the lack of logic in the handling of the queues at the DCL with the terrible frustrations it causes. Some of the people addressed us and said that if we had been there all the time it might be different….. On the way to Rachels Passage(Terminal) we did not see any detainees, neither at Tantur nor along the wall across from the old CP.At the BEthlehem Terminal itself there was pressure; many people returning from work at the same time. Only one window was open and it dealt with the two-way traffic. In another window the computer stalled, the girl soldier sitting there refused to answer our questions and leaned back on her seat in an almost provocative manner. We called Roni, the terminal police commander, who appeared immediately, opened another window, his miracle touch set the stalling computer back to order, so that three passages worked, and even responded seriously our request to talk to the misbehaving soldier.