Bethlehem and Etzion DCL,

06:40 In sharp contrast to the tension last week that was saturated with violence, this morning is quiet, at least from the outside. There are only a few people in the hall on the Israeli side. Occasionally a large group of people arrive and the 8 windows function effectively and   allow  quick passage. Do not forget that everything is relative – until these people arrived at this last stretch before their exit they already went through a long track on the Palestinian side of the checkpoint, where they had arrived at dawn. At least this morning, the brief human contact – eye contact, nod as between old acquaintances, a smile, a short exchange and a "Good morning" – indicate that the atmosphere is slightly more relaxed. Before we left M. the smiling merchant arrived, he is one of our old acquaintances. "How was your morning?" I asked. He said: "Today was great, thank God!" I told him: "If you understand what causes the difference between a “good” day and a “difficult” one please explain it to us too, OK?" He looks me in the eye with a big smile, pinches his arm and says: "We have a saying: a soft skin without bones – does not work… one needs something hard every now and then” Maybe it's a famous Palestinian saying or just a universal wisdom.

08:00 Etzion DCL

As usual many people approached us. For one of them we filled the prevention removal application and he entered to submit it. He came out empty handed – they did not accept his application. We called to find out why the application was not accepted and got a matter-of-fact and polite response from A. who asked that the resident come back inside. Now his application was accepted.

A big improvement can be felt at Etzion DCL.

This time S. came to take the permit for a day-at-the-beach for a friend from her village…In addition she brought a list of 92 people who wanted to attend a wedding in Israel. The wedding was supposed to take place in two days. Despite the slim chances we gave her the phone numbers of Hanna and Yael.