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Bethlehem, Wed 24.12.08, Morning

Place: Bethlehem (300)
Observers: Natania G., Hanna B. (reporting)
Dec-24-2008
| Morning

11.00 AM to 13.00  PM, Bethlehem:  we stood on the road leading from Jerusalem to the checkpoint on a freezing morning, and except for us there was nobody standing at the side of the road.   On the other hand,  the border-police were patrolling back and forth in a car and also on a “tractoron”  in order to be sure that the road stayed clear of cars and pedestrians.   So who did travel ?   Visitors on their way to visit the grave of our mother Rachel.    

The checkpoint was almost empty, and before the arrival of the Patriarch  and his party the checkpoint was closed to all Palestinians. The Patriarch was in a car belonging to the civil administration, with a huge Israeli flag and a smaller one with the insignia of the civil administration – so that we should not forget even for one moment who rules here.    Mounted-policemen rode behind the car on magnificent horses, all of them with flags.   What was missing ?  A flag of the church !  Palestinian boy-scouts had hung their large green flag on one of the accompanying cars, and on the same one were two smaller flags : was it the  flag of the church ?   No way !  It was the flag of the Palestinian authority !   The policemen demanded that the driver should take down the Palestinian flag, and only then allowed the convoy to proceed to Bethlehem.   As in previous years, the gate in the town wall was opened, and on the Palestinian side the Patriarch’s hosts and the scouts’ orchestras were there to welcome them.    At the end of the procession, we left the checkpoint in the freezing weather.    

  • 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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