07.00   Bethlehem – Checkpoint 300:

there were already many people outside when we arrived, but only a few inside, in the waiting hall . On the Bethlehem side there was a horde of people.  We heard their shouts and afterwards the reports of those who had passed through.

07.30 There were still reports of long queues on the other side; Sylvia telephoned the humanitarian center and complained. Five minutes later the traffic started to flow quickly and after another ten minutes everything was over, and there was nothing else to report. Overall, a bad day, but on the other hand not too bad.

There were practically no people at the Etzion DCL: about 20 had already gone inside and three more were in the waiting hall. Several workers came to us to ask for advice.  Two of them had had their work-permits cancelled, one of them that morning : apparently he had suddenly become a GSS (General Security Service) -denied  person.  

The second was more complicated. His permit was confiscated before Yom Kippur. He had worked at  Kibbutz  Tsor’ah on renovations, and spoke excellent Hebrew. Sylvia checked and he was not on either the police or the GSS denied list. So what was the reason for his situation ?

The following became apparent from a conversation with his employer:

The man was needed and necessary for the work at the kibbutz. The contractor had three permits for Palestinians to work there, but last week the number was rediuced to two. Therefore he had to dismiss one of them, and he dismissed the one who had started to work last. (four years ago); so the contractor lost a good worker who was now out of work.

What is the civilian administration’s policy ? Are there informers who pass information to and from the manpower agencies?  Do they prefer to to bring a Chinese or Thai worker, so as to enrich these agencies, which is to the detriment of a population which lives next to us and wants to work ?

Are we waiting for an explosion to take place in the occupied territories, as is the custom in our part of the world ?