Bethlehem, Etzion DCL, Thu 1.10.09, Afternoon
Another young man told us that this was the fifth time that he had been summoned by the GSS. He came for the meeting at the DCL four times, and each time he was told to wait until the end of the day and then told to return the next day. A third one told us that a GSS official had suggested that he should cooperate with them and he had refused. His permit to enter Israel was immediately cancelled, and his livelyhood had suffered. He has now been summoned again for a meeting with the GSS and he is worried that he will again be pressured to cooperate. He also, like all the rest, had been waiting since 09.00 AM.
We phoned Ravi, and told him that about thirteen people had already been waiting for hours, and we asked him to phone the GSS. He responded to our request politely. Also Danny and Eyad, to whom we had applied during the last few weeks, spoke to us politely and mostly agreed to our requests. Within a short time the ID's of three of the brothers were returned to them but the fourth one still didn't come out of the GSS office. At our request, Ravi allowed an inhabitant of Bethlehem to enter in order to clarify his case today, and didn't postpone him until Monday (Bethlehem residents' day), because the man explained that his case had already been postponed from last Monday, and that because of Yom Kippur the DCL had been closed. Additional people were also allowed to enter.
At 15.00 huge trucks with large cranes entered the parking lot. An elderly man approached us and complained that he had been prevented from working and operating his crane at his home in Al Fagger, and brought it to Etzion. We referred him to “Yesh Din” (the Israeli lawyers' volunteer organization set-up to defend Palestinians in court). In the meantime a group of Israelis from the Civil Administration gathered around the trucks . When we tried to speak to them, they answered rudely and shouted at us to go away. When we moved away, the young man who had been summoned by the GSS to come today for the fifth time, came out and told us that he had again been told to return on the following day.
Is there a way to demand supervision over the GSS's activities ?
Bethlehem (300)
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Located adjacent to the Separation Wall ("Jerusalem Wrap") at the north entrance to Bethlehem, this checkpoint cuts off Bethlehem and the entire West Bank from East Jerusalem, with all the serious implications for health services, trade, education, work and the fabric of life. The checkpoint is manned by the Border police and private security companies. It is an extensive infrastructure barrier and is designated as a border terminal, open 24 hours a day for foreign tourists. Israeli passport holders are not allowed to pass to Bethlehem, and Palestinian residents are not allowed to enter Jerusalem, except those with entry permits to Israel and East Jerusalem residents. Israeli buses are allowed to travel to Bethlehem only through this checkpoint.The checkpoint, which demonstrated harsh conditions of crowding and extreme passage delays for years, started employing advanced electronic identification posts and has upgraded its gates' system as of the middle of 2019 - and conditions improved.Adjacent to the checkpoint, in an enclosure between high walls and another passage, is the historic Rachel's Tomb, which is now embedded within a concrete fortified building. It contains prayer and study complexes for Jews only, as well as a residential complex. updated November 2019 .
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Etzion DCO
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serves residents of Bethlehem and surrounding villages who need magnetic cards, work permits for Israel, permits for one-time entry for religious or health reasons, various police permits, etc.
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