Al Nashshash, Bethlehem, Etzion DCL, Thu 14.4.11, Afternoon
From 2:00 till 5:00 PM
Etzion DCL: we hadn’t been to this area for some time and noted a new watchtower at the Etzion junction. Huge ads for Independence Day celebrations are already up. At the DCL the parking lot looked cleaner and even had some markings to park cars, but the stench of the toilets was – if at all possible – worse than ever.
On the door was a note in Arabic that the office is closed between April 18th and 26th – an improvement to former years!
About ten people crowded next to the turnstiles and according to them no one had entered in the last hour and a half. We did, however, see some people emerge from the side whose problems had been dealt with. We called the girl and she promised to see what she could do to help. After about ten minutes a girl soldier appeared behind the window and all waiting men were let in. They thanked us profusely and one of the accompanying ladies said it was only because of us. But then after about twenty minutes she told us that her son had called her from inside to let her know that there were now about 25 people inside, but that they were all just waiting and not assisted. We called again and were given a solemn promise that everybody would be dealt with before closure. This was after we had seen three girls who had left in despair, because they had given up. Some more people arrived and also were allowed to enter. It was almost as if the messiah had arrived!
AL Nashshash Checkpoint: at the Al Nashshash junction the queue of waiting vehicles to merge into road 60 was all the way down – a traffic light would be an easy and humane solution.
Bethlehem– Checkpoint 300: at the Rachel crossing we saw many tourist buses and a huge group of Americans just emerged from the terminal. The Palestinian workers passed quickly without any checking – there were hundreds of them at the same time and there was no queue whatsoever. Here too it looked as if peace is near. A civilian guard was playing with his cell phone on the upper level and hardly paid attention. It is a pity that they have to walk all the way through the terminal in stead of just getting out of one bus on the Jerusalem side in order to board another one on the Bethlehem side.
A-Nashshash
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A-Nashshash
Junction on Road 60 from leading to the southern outskirts of al-Khader, to Salomon pools and to Bethlehem. Until 2015, a blockade at the junction prevented the passage of vehicles from the south (from Hebron) to Bethlehem and from there to the north of the West Bank and vice versa, and a small market developed at the junction, with taxis serving both directions on two sides of the blockage. Until 2015, Members of MachsomWatch police reports team would come to the scene to receive and return traffic violations reports for payment (possible only in Israel).- from Palestinians without a entrance permit to Israel. There is usually no military or police supervision i n place.
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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 .
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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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