Bethlehem. Tuesday PM, 5-7-05Observers: Yael I., Ruth O. and Ilana D. (reporting) From 3:00 till 6:30 PMAt Bethlehem CP 300 four female members of the same family from Nablus had been brought for investigation after having been apprehended without entry permits in Jerusalem. They claimed that only men need permits for work, but that women are allowed into Jerusalem freely to pray. Some UN-workers who had come to release a colleague, tried to be of assistance, but told them like us, that they should just sign and admit ‘guilt’ in order to be released and go home where they had left the children. Menashe Naftali, the commander of the checkpoint told us to ‘observe’ from a distance, where the religious people wait for the bus. Our protests that we could not see anything from there made no impression. At the entrance to the tunnel road cars were checked, but we saw no detainees. Abu Nassim greeted us warmly and dealt efficiently, as usual, with the paid fines which Haya had given to us. The many customers all invited us for drinks, etc., but we declined. When we approached the Etzion DCL, Y. wondered how one toilet could emit so much stench. A couple of men were loitering around, very annoyed, because there had been an electricity short for the last four hours and nothing (the fan, the turnstiles in addition to the computers and the magnetic card machine) worked. Miraculously a minute after we arrived the electricity came back on. All men were helped, except one who was extremely angry, because he had not been given the requested permit. He had been told to apply in Hebron, but being a collaborator for the Security Services, he could not enter Hebron. When asked whether he had explained this, he told us that Azhar was aware, but when we called, Azhar didn’t answer. The man then decided not to bother us any longer. We had told him that his contacts with the Security Services should be able to help him better than we could. Another man asked for our number and was given a Moked-card. We had made an appointment in Wallaje to meet with Ahmed and discuss politics. At the beginning of the week we had attended a session at the Municipal Court where attorney Eitan Peleg and his assistant Heli Lesser had attempted to try and make use of the case of the asphalted road leading to the Mosque, constructed by Mustafa for the benefit of the entire village. However, Mustafa refused to make use of the witnesses Mr. Peleg had brought to testify and seemed to be of the opinion that he could deal with his case better without involving the rest of the village. Eitan was extremely annoyed and apparently the entire village is now against Mustafa who used to be the Mukhtar, but doesn’t seem to care about public matters. Ahmed told us how sad it is that the village is divided and that people are not honest. He served us his homegrown cucumbers. Since he has not been working for the last five years, he has turned into a farmer. He is not too successful with his chickens, but has beehives and vegetables. His house (the plans were made by Plesser, the architect of the Bell Garden who is a personal friend) is only half finished. His sons, who live with their families in his home, occasionally try to sneak into Jerusalem for work, but are sometimes apprehended and at other times cheated by their employers. Two married daughters live in the village and one in Gilo. The youngest is still at home. He has eaten up all his savings.