Bethlehem, El Khader, Bet Ummar, Ezyon Sunday, April 2, AMObservers: Sylvia P, Ofra B, Aliza (candidate for MW), Chana A (Reporting)Setting: A morning of torrential rains, dense fog and high windsBethlehem CP: the scene was unexpected. The crossing station was flooded and the winds had free access, against all bureaucratic measures. There were only a handful of Palestinians crossing because of course there is a closure, new or old, who counts? But in addition the soldiers, outnumbering the crossers, were the captives of the elements mysteriously being given the upper hand in the new structure. So much for Israeli engineering feats.El Khader: Rain and wind. Our “office” (in the shape of a small Fiat car) tried to keep warm while one of the doors was open to “visitors”. Not many of those. Beth Ummar: We missed Abu Nassim’s grocery shop in the fog, but caught ourselves, u-turned on the road and found him. Inside there were petitioners and we worked for more than an hour. One man showed us a picture of his son who, three years ago, at the age of 14, was shot in the street and lost one of his feet. Now 17, the protheses he had is falling apart and a new one has to be made. The father is unemployed and the cost of the artificial foot is some 6 to 7000 shekels. Ezyon: Six people were waiting for a GSS interview in the cold and rain. It was almost 10:00 and they had been waiting for longer or shorter periods and no end in sight. On the way to Beth Ummar we saw a military presence (jeeps) at El Arub and on the way back to Jerusalem there were two jeeps at El Khader, something we haven’t seen in a long time.