Bethlehem, Tue 13.7.10, Morning
6:45 am, Bethlehem – Checkpoint 399: many workers outside — good times must be here — waiting for the "contractor." Four positions are open inside, a stream of people entering, and checking is fast. All this is pleasant to behold, but before long the usual wrinkle appears: a pair of parents with their child are on their way to the hospital. The child is after an operation. The father is required to produce a document (birth certificate). But the document is in Arabic, and the female soldier is unable to read it. She refuses passage. The father persists, turns to another counter, and the story repeats itself. One of the security personnel asks the soldier for clarification, she tells him the document is insufficient, and when the father insists that all is in order, the guard tells him: "you wanted to know why, and now you know." We too insisted, and called a higher officer who reads Arabic. He came, and all was immediately resolved.
Efficiency and easing of restrictions are all very well, but courtesy and generosity are not provided in military orders.
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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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