Bethlehem. Tuesday PM, 1.8.2006 Observers: Yael Y. and Ilana D. (reporting) From 3:00 till 6:00 PMBeit Ummar, Al Aroub, Etzion DCL, Nashash and CP 300 In Beit Ummar the blue police had stopped a yellow cab. Its license plates were taken off and the driver had to get into the transit leaving his car on the curb (windows open). As soon as the police van had left a group of youngsters crowded around the open abandoned cab. We left.In Al Aroub a transit cab had been stopped, for about an hour and as we approached three of the passengers were given their Id’s back. One of the remaining five Palestinians asked us to contact Haya on his behalf. At the Ezyon DCL there was no one in the waiting area. The fans were blasting, 81 people (according to the numbering device) had been dealt with. People started to exit – only humanitarian cases (the curfew is still in force). All had wasted two days in order to receive permission to get to a hospital for one or two days. Yesterday they had waited all day long in order to be told to return today and actually were rather pleased that today within (only) two hours they had been dealt with. A young couple whose child is hospitalized will have to take the same Via Dolorosa in another two days to extend their permit for two more days.Along Road 60 there were more army vehicles than usual (one turned into Nashash, but continued. We also noted more donkeys than usual and the landscape demolition is continuing faster each week.At Nashash there appeared to be many more cabs than usual – a sure sign of lack of work. The teacher with his sons in jail appeared optimistic that his children would be amongst those freed in exchange of the kidnapped soldiers. One of the peanut vendors told us that he hoped soon to be leaving for Dubai to make money in order to bring over his family. “This is not work,” he said.We took a lady who works for the church in Jerusalem from Tantur to the Rachel Terminal. She complained bitterly that due to the curfew she is unable to get to work via the Terminal and said: “Our life is difficult. You don’t even want to hear how I get to work.” The only people passing through the turnstiles were tourists. The soldier told us that only humanitarian cases pass. Two of the waiting bus drivers talked to us and queried the ‘wisdom’ of a curfew in these days of war. We agreed that if the matters were left to them and us there would be peace and economic prosperity.