Bethlehem. Tuesday PM, 18.7.2006 Observers: Ruth O. and Ilana D. (reporting) From 3:00 till 6:30 PMBeit Ummar, Al Aroub, Etzion DCL, Solomon’s Pools (Nashash) and CP 300Beyond the tunnels more coiled barbed wire has been placed on the Western side of Road 60. Huge machinery and semi trailers loaded with concrete slabs were hoisting a new kind of annexation wall into place. The designers are more creative now: the wall is not totally vertical, but somewhat slanted inwards towards the road. There were two army vehicles and a newly erected watchtower at the entrance to Al Aroub. Later a taxi driver told us that two weeks ago the regular army in Beit Ummar and Al Aroub has been replaced by Border Police. They hold frequent checks and leave people outside the cars for hours in the sun, before allowing them to continue. Checking the documents takes forever. We promised to report. Peaches and plums were exhibited for sale along the side of the road – most of this wonderful fruit will have to be thrown away. We bought some fruit and hand-delivered something to a friend of Yvonne.The stench of the toilets at the entrance to the waiting hall of the Ezyon DCL defeats any description. We were hardly able to hold our breath long enough to enter. There were no people waiting (but the fan was blowing). People who had received their magnetic cards (after an hour and a half wait) were exiting. They claimed that with a magnetic card it should be easier to receive a permit to enter Jerusalem, but none of them had been successful so far. Most were Christians from Beit Jalla. They told us of the first person who was shot in Beit Jalla during the first Intifada, now fifteen years ago. He was the head of the family. Since then, not one single person of the entire clan has been able to receive a permit to work or to visit relatives in Jerusalem, not even the old mother. At Al Nashash a few men approached us with a request to retrieve their Id cards from the Police Station in Ras-El-Amud. They had been fined and in addition to their driver’s license, the car license and its insurance, their Id’s had also been confiscated which makes moving around extremely hazardous. Fortunately Haya had just returned from abroad and promised to deal with the cases already to-morrow. We took the documents and gave them men a receipt. A man who has a pending court case was referred to Maher who told him over the phone to apply to-morrow. Again we received a number of complaints re the situation at the “Container” – Wadi Nar, where people are held up for hours and even small children are made to wait for hours in the sun. Recently apparently there has not been much MachsomWatch presence at the CP.Ruth took some photo’s of the construction of the wall under Beit Jalla and one of the security guards took the number of her car –‘he is in charge and has to watch that no one takes pictures’ he claimed.There were no detainees on the way to the Rachel Passage. The traffic light over the gate on the Southern end is still on red. The floor inside the terminal is spotless, but all around the garbage is starting to pile up like in the times before the construction of this monster-terminal. Maybe it is time the Pope came to visit and then maybe the municipality will see fit to sweep the street. A long queue of people on their way into Bethlehem vanished as we approached. Some Austrian tourists exited.Near Haya’s place at the entrance to Abu Tor all cars with Palestinian drivers were stopped.