Bethlehem, Halhul, + Etzion DCO [Civil Administration office] Sunday AM, 8 February 2004 MachsomWatchers: Haya O., Ada G., Ayala S. (reporting) Bethlehem (CP 300). Dozens of detainees near the Tantur wall. We were not allowed to approach them. Later met one of the men hurrying away – he had all the necessary documents but was nevertheless detained for about an hour and a half and was now late for work… Palestinians tell us they do their best to avoid this terrible CP. Another small group, detained within the CP itself, managed to tell us that they had been taken by BP at Armon Hanaziv. We gave them Moked cards(contact info for the Center for the Defense of the Individual). Two Border Police stationed themselves at the Tantur gate playing hide-and-seek with pedestrians trying their luck through Tantur grounds. Pathetic. Hussan-Halhul route. Seemed nearly free of military presence but as usual, there was hardly any Palestinian transportation either – only the few authorized buses. DCO Etzion. The sewage again flowing freely at the entrance to the “waiting lounge”. Magnetic card [security clearance] counter closed: “due to faulty computer”. Bitter complaints about the hardships involved in procuring necessary documents. We arrived about an hour and a half after the DCO opened – 18 people had been attended to (12 per hour!) and many dozens were waiting in thecrowded dark space. One of the bus drivers told us that several villages along the Karme-Zur road (Fawwar, Dura, Yatta) had been blocked off from that road, preventing access to his village by bus. Note to MachsomWatchers: Does anyone of us know about this?