Bethlehem, Fri 25.4.08, Morning
Bethlehem:
Good Friday had arrived at the CP- large groups (Polish, Germans and Anglo-Saxons) passed without going through an inspection.
There was only one open post at the Check Point but the soldier let the people pass quickly without shouting. Most of the people were Christian tourists visiting the holy land. Apparently it was decided to stretch the regulations a little in honor of Good Friday. It had been a long time since the turnstiles had turned around so fast. The Palestinians that passed had all the necessary documents. Even though they were still told to lay their hand on the examination machine, the inspection didn’t take long and no one was sent back.
At 10:40 We got on a bus, together with a group of Jewish orthodox people, (among them housewives), that was taking them to Rachel’s Grave to pray. We wanted to see their customs and especially see the site from inside and also its surroundings. The site is awfully ugly. There is a long corridor that looks like the central bus station; it had no resemblance to the way the grave used to look or the atmosphere that once surrounded it. The most horrifying of all is of course the monstrous building that was built: a corridor that is really a road leading to the grave, which from both sides of it are walls that were erected right in front of the houses. Some of the houses won the jack pot: the wall surrounds them only from one side. One building is surrounded but the wall from three sides, we can only imagine how it’s inhabitants feel when opening a window. For some reason this didn’t bother the tranquility of the Jewish prayers. The art of seeing the Arab as air had been mastered over there. How sad, how frustrating, how depressing!
We really didn’t want to wait at the grave for a whole hour until the next bus came so we asked for a private lift on the bus of the company that develops Har Hebron.
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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