Bethlehem and Surroundings—March 1, 05AMObservers: Yehudit A., Neta A., Lilian L., Shlomit B. (reporting)Bottom Line: a Palestinian can now travel without encountering checkpoints from Hebron to Bethlehem on a meandering road that goes through Tequoa. “The Advanced Lieberman Road”.Bethlehem CP 300: Upon our arrival at the CP we are greeted by two smiling Haredim (religious black coats) who ask us if we are from Betselem (civil rights organization). There are no detainees. There are about 20 waiting to pass. The soldiers register every ID, lengthening the waiting time to pass significantly. We ask one of the waiting people how long he’s been waiting. HE pulls out a cell phone and exams it: 47 minuets. His friend adds that indeed every morning they wait from 30 to 60 minuets.There is a jeep waiting at the entrance to Tantur.At the Tunnel Checkpoint there is A BP jeep checking in the southern direction. The CP on the other side of the road is manned by the army and takes Palestinian vehicles off the road for checking.El Khadr: No army. We passed on.Efrat CP: unmanned.Nokdim CP (Zaartra—on the base of Heroidion): unmanned.This point is important because it means that Palestinians are able to travel to Hebron to Bethlehem without passing a checkpoint. When we asked people why they continue to travel through El Khadr, we were told that the distance through El Khadr is 50 Km. instead of 70 through Herodion, and that the Heroidion road is a worn out road. It takes 20 min. to travel from Zaatra to Beit Sahour. A large sign in Hebrew warns: “entrance for security forces only”. Near by there is an army camp and jeeps patrolling. According to a student who is standing near bye this CP has not been manned for three months now, although there are occasionally surprise CPs. He told us that at night the settlers fire on their herds. To our surprise the Herodion site is well kept with a guard at the box office and stickers about keeping the place clean. The view is lovely from above. East of Rt. 60 the beautiful pastoral scenery is cut by bulldozers building a road between Nokdim and Har Homa. This road is called the “Lieberman Road”, for obvious reasons. Students wave to us from a passing bus; chickens wander about, almond trees and anemones.(How did we go? We turned left in the direction of Nokdim/Herodion from Rt. 60. At a certain point the road splits. A sign indicates that right is to Maale Amos (Rd. 356). We turned right in the direction of Tequoa. Later on during the shift we returned south on this road in the direction of Mitazad Shimon. There is a recommendation not to go to Kfar Sayir which is further on along this road.)At the turn to Mitzad Shimon/Pne Kadim/ Sayir – there is waste on the side of the road indicating that a checkpoint that was dismantled.8:40 Beit Jala: About 10 vehicles waiting to pass to the Palestinian side. T his number will double in the coming hour. The soldiers from Nahal and the BP tell us that this checkpoint is open to all private vehicles, vehicles with Israeli numbers that have a permit and to taxis only from Bethlehem. A couple in a taxi wants to pass. The woman needs a doctor, but the soldiers tell them that they must get out and change taxis after the checkpoint, in order to make sure this happens they take the taxi drivers ID. From the commander of the CP –R—we hear that there is a command from the DCO not to let taxis from other areas pass the CP in order to insure business for the local taxis! We feel that the source of this command is bribery. Additional vehicles wait on the side of the CP. A security vehicle guards the man from the water company who comes to read meters. The principal of the “Hope” school near the CP invites us to visit.Wallaje: Near the lowest house in the village we met a family who spoke to us in a friendly manner and hosted us on the veranda of their home. Spring sunshine, plum blossoms, and sweet tea— how pleasant to fall in love with talk about peace against this background. The content of the conversation was in contrast to this conversation: The father of this family and his brother were driven away from Walleje in 1948 when the village was where Moshav Aminadav now is. They see how they are about to lose their land once again. The father works as a carpenter and makes mosaics for many years in Tel Aviv. Because of the situation he is not able to work any more. The same is true for his son, who worked for years in construction in Israel. The young son and daughter live at home and occasionally go to study at the computer center that is run by the Palestinian Authority in Beit Jala. The daughter repeats again and again that she would like to study but there is “no money”.The lower neighborhood is called Halet Somek (named after the red earth in the area). The land around the village belongs to the residents but there is a plan to build the wall in a place that will separate them from their land and also from their cemetery. They were told that they would have a checkpoint at the entrance of their village in order to go down to farm their land. There is also a plan for a road and a tunnel.The upper neighborhood is call Ein El Gweiza will be included within the borders of the city of Jerusalem. Today it is annexed into Jerusalem, although the residents have Palestinians ID.The village committee has a map with the divisions. A relative arrives with documents form 2003 (order of annexation). The documents have an area marked in red that has apparently been changed recently, signed by GAdi Izenkot. The villagers tell us that they have a lawyer, Etain Peleg who is working on the problem of Ein el Gweiza. Apparently since the legal processes have begun the abuse of the village residents has lessened significantly.A relative shows us a document indicating a trial dated 28-12-04. His car was confiscated for 30 days because a Palestinian (he himself, the owner of the car) was transported in an Israeli car (his own car). During the trail the judge said that this paradox is the Palestinian’s problem and the car was held for 30 days and not one minuet less. The owner was accused and punished for transporting an illegal person (a Palestinian—himself) in an Israeli car—his own car.