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Bethlehem, Fri 4.11.11, Morning

Place: Bethlehem (300)
Tags: Hitches at checkpoints Women
Observers: Clair Oren. (reporting)
Nov-04-2011
| Morning

 

09.00 – 11.00

Bethlehem – Checkpoint 300:  four inspection windows are open and many people want to pass through the checkpoint.  Most of them don’t have to wait in a queue and the soldiers in the positions are quiet.

Two women are not allowed to go through the checkpoint because their passes are valid from 6/11 to 9/11.  

A man comes from the Jerusalem side and approaches one of the soldiers in order to get back his ID card which had been taken from him during the night..The ID is indeed returned to him. The soldier in the position calls the commander who comes out of one of the inside rooms and returns him his ID.  I did’nt  manage to find out what had happened during the night.

An elderly woman begs to be allowed to pass although she doesn’t have a permit.  She tries her luck at each of the positions but nothing helps.

At around 10:15 am there is a power cut and the computers stop working.  Long queues build-up opposite the inspection positions, but the electricity returns quickly and the people pass through without a long wait.

Apart from this, there have been no “exceptional events”, Many people passed through, and it was cold

  • 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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