DCO Ezion, BethlehemSunday, 19.9.04, PMWatching: Tzipi E., Netanya G., Judith S.We arrived at DCO Ezion at about 4:00 pm. There are only a few people waiting. Two counters are open, and the police counter is closed (opening hours on Sunday: 1-4 pm). The soldiers spread around the news: “The checkpoint women arrived”. It isn’t clear how this fact influences the reality at the DCO, if at all, but in light of the general complacency – here and in the checkpoints in general – alertness itself might be helpful.A man who works as a gold dealer in the West Bank came to renew his personal permit and his car permit. Although he was promised that both permits will be prolonged, he returns from the counter without the car permit and asks us to help. It turns out that last time it were also our women who helped him out. After very many phone calls to the CDO commanders, who are either before a meeting, within a meeting or after a meeting, we manage to talk to Azhar, and the guy gets his permit.A young woman was waiting for a permit to join her mother for some medical treatment in a Jerusalem hospital. She got a permit for one day, and in order to prolong it she will have to present a letter from the physician. We gave her some phone numbers, in case she will need help.Another man, who is responsible for delivering Tnuva products – from Israel, via Al Ezariya to Qalqiliya and its surroundings – was stuck with a loaded lorry in the entrance to qalqiliya and wasn’t allowed to go in because the car permit was only valid till 4 days ago and he couldn’t renew because of the holidays. We try again to ring Motti, but there is no response. The soldier on the roof treats us as if we were air, and the soldier next to the gate, after being convinced that it’s not a personal matter but a matter of supplying basic products, tries to help us find Motti. When a soldier approaches the gate in order to deal with the problem, he asks our man to present, on top of the whole pile of documents he already has, a letter from Tnuva. Till today the pile of papers was enough to get a permit, but not any more.At about 5:30 pm we pass next to the entrance to Al-Khader, and the place looks deserted.At 5:40 – X Junction. Relatively lively traffic, and although the crossing is easy, the soldiers’ complacency makes the short queue move slowly.At 6:00 pm – checkpoint 300. The moment we come closer, the soldiers communicate with us through sign language and demand we stay away from the checkpoint. For some reason, only one lane is open for traffic, which means that at any moment only one car can pass. We see 8 soldiers, 5 of them in a summer camp position, and everything moves s – l – o – w – l – y … s – l – o – w – l – y.