Bethlehem, Tue 20.5.08, Morning
06:30, Bethlehem CP: Four checking posts were open, and the lines were long. On the other side, people reported, the crowding was horrible. Time and again the entrance into the CP from the Palestinian side would close altogether, and the lines on our side would dwindle considerably. The hell was on the other side.
A group of French, staying in Beit Sahur, came through. They were appalled by the experience.
The crowding was such and people so desperate to get out of it and make it to work, that men were not willing to let women get to the head of the line, which is quite unusual. Again, women complained about harassments. A woman told us that a new line is being built now, but apparently it will serve tourists, not women and humanitarian cases.
As a rule, officers are not present in this CP. As a result, some soldiers choose to ignore the note hung in several booths that it is forbidden to have private talks on the phone while checking documents. The soldier in booth 7 talked for 35 minutes, until the DCL representative asked her to stop. He then disappeared, and her colleague at booth 1 started to talk on the phone. We never saw the end of it. By the time we left, she was on it already for 30 minutes.
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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