7.40 – 11.00. 

BACK TO NORMAL… Where ‘normal’ means non-stop telephone calls by people checking on the progress of their appeals (in which case Chaya asks them to call her at home where she does the paperwork), or new applicants telling of their problems with police (and then Chaya explains in detail which documents to collect from which office, and how to do so and then fax them to her).  All this was going on while dealing with clients who had come in person.

Today there were also many people waiting at each of the regular stops.  As in the phone-calls, some were given instructions.  A few signed forms of authorization for MW or our lawyer.  In two other cases Chaya received money so as to pay fines on their behalf in Israel (One man had in the past entrusted his money to an acquaintance who had a permit to enter Israel, but the money vanished).

One man had the usual problem that, while the years he had been banned from entering Israel  –  according to the Court order –  had now ended,  he still had an additional ban applied routinely by the police.  We see over and over the shock and disappointment  of people who think that, at last, after being stuck at home, often unemployed and having to care for a family, they will be able to work again, they discover this additional hurdle.

On a smaller scale, but still frustrating for the person involved, a man showed us that after three years, he was due at the end of the month to be finally cleared for entering Israel.  But Chaya had to warn him that there might yet be a two-month delay before this would be recorded in ‘the computer’ and only then would he get his permit.

A man said that since coming back from Jordan, he had trouble with Security. We gave him Sylvia’s contact details.

At Bet Omar was an elderly lady who has been in touch with MW.  Her son-in-law is Jordanian, holding a Jordanian passport.  For years he has lived in Bet Omar with his wife.  But now he has been in Jordan for six(?) months trying to get back.  This will surely have to be done through a lawyer, but where and how?

At DCO Etzion there were about 30 people in the waiting-room, applying for magnetic cards. They said they were being admitted. Here, too, a few approached us about problems of access to Israel.

     Police were on duty at the DCO, so we were able to advise people to go there for documents, when necessary.