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Bethlehem, Fri 18.12.09, Morning

Place: Bethlehem (300)
Tags: Maltreatment
Observers: Claire A.(reporting)
Dec-18-2009
| Morning

Bethlehem Checkpoint: wind howls through the checkpoint. It’s very cold and a few Palestinians wait inside for their relatives who haven’t yet come out.

The situation is not much better than last week: people still come out in a dribble, but it is clear that on the other side a great many are waiting.

On the Israeli side, two stations are open and people are passing without delays. The soldiers are completely indifferent to the fact that many are waiting on the other side. They are also completely indifferent to the suffering of two children who arrived with parents (each separately) but with documentation in Arabic. Neither their tears nor my plea to exercise some judgement or to let me translate the document – nothing helped and they were forced to go back the way they had come, crying in disappointment and certainly in terrible anger after all their long wait.

I approach one of the soldiers about the possibility of speeding up transitfrom the other side. He goes up to the roof and sees that there are indeed many waiting, and he decides to send whoever is taking a break over there. And the flow starts to be more meaningful.

 

 

  • Bethlehem (300)

    See all reports for this place
    • 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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