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Bethlehem, Wed 24.12.08, Afternoon

Place: Bethlehem (300)
Observers: Hana B. (reporting), Dalit (visitor)
Dec-24-2008
| Afternoon

18:00 – 21:30 PM, Bethlehem Checkpoint:  the temperature dropped, the wind increased and the cold is icy.

Two stations are open at the checkpoint, one for people coming out of Bethlehem and one for going in. Traffic is a trickle. The Palestinians are being checked as usual and required to produce documents. Foreigners pass without a check, some even not brandishing passports.

At the vehicle crossing to Bethlehem the traffic is lively, mostly buses. Tourist Ministry people board the buses and distribute to the passengers “birthday” bags, including of course Bamba as appropriate to birthday handouts. Military Police women welcome the tourists with a smile and politeness – and we wonder where this politeness goes to on ordinary days… The taxi drivers are celebrating – at last a chance to make the “daily” income. The (Palestinian) municipal buses come and go quickly, filling up mostly with young tourists. The monks have come on foot from Jerusalem – in sandals without socks, and suffering from the cold even more than us.

 

All the Palestinians who see us, without exception, come to ask how we are and to thank us for being there despite the cold and darkness.

 

According to the police, some 90,000 celebrants have crossed to Bethlehem and, until we leave, we hear of no irregular event…

  

  • 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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