Bethlehem. Tuesday PM, 9-8-05 Observers: Yael I., Ruth O. and Ilana D. (reporting) From 3:00 till 7:00 PMBeit Ummar, DCL Etzion, WallajeWe first proceeded to Beit Ummar to deliver Haya’s documents to Abu Nassim. There was no army presence on the way. The entrance to the tunnel road was half blocked by concrete slabs and a parked Border Police jeep, but there were no detainees. In Al Khadr the usual hustle and bustle – no soldiers. The Ezyon Checkpoint wasn’t manned either. There is more colorful and diversified fruit along the road for sale. Abu Nassim reported on his trip to visit his daughter in Amman.Due to the curfew the DCL Ezyon appeared almost empty. No permits are renewed as long as the closure continues (till when?). A pharmacist married to a Ukrainian woman complained that he had been waiting in vain for five years to obtain a visa for her to visit. He has now obtained papers attesting to his heart-condition, which necessitates her presence at his bedside when he undergoes open-heart surgery. He was denied a reply at the window, because he only speaks Arabic and Russian and no Hebrew. We called and he was allowed to speak to the clerk in Arabic, but was told when he inquired re a visa that there is now a closure – not really a reply to his query. He had already paid 40,000 Sh to Lea Tsemel to no avail. He does visit his wife and son in the Ukraine occasionally. He was given the card of the Moked, but was told that they do not deal with visas. A man who regularly works in Israel and has no trouble entering ‘somehow’ told us that since he was imprisoned fifteen years ago, he has not been able to get security clearance. He was shown the form letter. He told us that he had taken a lawyer who had not been of help till now, but he keeps trying. A man who had been told at the police station in Beit Shemesh that everything was fine and that he could now apply to the DCL was told that the file had not yet reached the office. He was told to call Maher before returning.We had promised Atta in Wallaje a visit having gotten to know him at the court cases concening the plight of the village. He is their ‘Foreign Minister’ and keeps close contact with the ecumenical groups. Atta has been working almost constantly for the last twenty years at the ‘Soeurs de Sion’ Convent in Ein Karem. They help him to obtain a work permit, but due to the closure, he now has to walk through the fields to get to Jerusalem. When apprehended in Jerusalem he has no trouble, since his permit is still valid. He is afraid he may have trouble renewing it, since no work permits are extended as long as the closure continues and we promised to ask our Sunday morning-shift on August 21, when he is due to apply to assist him. His wife, who was born and raised in Kuwait where his father worked, speaks perfect English and hardly gets a chance to practice. Her sisters also live in the village and are married to Atta’s brothers, their cousins. The couple lives at some distance from the village and appeared to have a wonderful relationship based on mutual respect and a lot of humor. On a voluntary basis Atta and his brother Salah, who works at the Targ Music Center, take turns to watch over Bracha Eden who has dizzy spells and cannot be left alone, when there is no one else in the house. We hardly talked politics, but Atta said that as opposed to the other villagers, he would prefer to live under Palestinian rule rather than being annexed to Jerusalem. Whereas Eitan Peleg their lawyer claims that it is in their interest to keep postponing the issue, he prefers harsh decisions, even if they hurt, rather than having to live in the unknown. We enjoyed grapes and plums from the garden, sipped lemonade and coffee and declined an invitation to dinner.