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Bethlehem, Tue 21.12.10, Morning

Place: Bethlehem (300)
Observers: D., R. reporting
Dec-21-2010
| Morning

6:50 am, Bethlehem – Checkpoint 300:  the area outside is filled with people.  We are greeted with smiles. Five checking stations are working with about ten people in each line. The lines are moving very fast.  E, the police representative in charge of the CP, is standing on watch. He tells us that 2200 people have passed.  At 7:05 am, he receives a call that everyone has gone through. Indeed, there is a trickle of people after that, which soon subsides. May this be a representative of all Tuesday mornings. 

  • 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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