Bethlehem and Surroundings PM 5.01.06Observers: Shulamit S., Orah A., Yael S. (reporting) Nothing new under the sun – either in the DCOs or at the checkpoints. Still those difficult scenes of despair. Yesterday, for instance, at 16:00, about twenty people were let into the DCO to receive their long-awaited magnetic cards. Since there were computer problems, only a few people received them – and all the rest, after they waited for about two hours, were sent with their hands empty. Today, they returned and have to stand in the queue, all over again. The queue was organized by the Palestinians. They made up two lists: one for magnetic cards and one for other permits. As per my request, they allowed those waiting for medical permits to go to the head of the line. Two chairs with two ushers block the way to the carousel. The ushers called those waiting by name and they are ushered in one by one to receive the magnetic card. There is talk about providing numbered and dated places for the queue. I called in two instances regarding permits: one for a person wanting to visit the US Consulate in Jerusalem on the fourth of the month, and I hope to receive an answer regarding his request today. The other – concerns a cousin of a person who is hospitalized In Hadassah since February after a traffic accident. Even though he is from the Bethlehem area, he was sent to the DCO in HebronÉ but in any case, no permits are given if you aren’t a relative from the first degree – and these are rules that don’t change. And another case, regarding a request for a magnetic card – if it it didn’t end up funny, it would have been very sad. A Haj came up to us and said that he was told to wait until 17:00 in order to receive the magnetic card and his ID card, which was taken away by the soldier at the window. Luckily, Amir was on duty, and understood at once that there was some misunderstanding, and instead of waiting inside in one of the waiting rooms, he had understood that he has to wait outside. So he was sent immediately back to the service windows. The ushers allowed him to go back inside and indeed, he was given his ID card and the magnetic card in a short time. Tomorrow the DCO is open only half a day. But my main activities lately, is in the health areas, and I constantly receive requests in the last few weeks – either directly from Palestinians who have my cellphone number or through friends, and I try to assists and receive reports back from the DCO in Hebron and Ezyon in this way. Summary: After we used all possible means, and through the health coordinator (mainly Meir), we received a permit to visit one of the hospitals in Israel the permit will be given at the Hebron DCO. So why does it take four hours or more to get this permit, when the DCO receives the names and ID cards of the requesting people directly? Why can’t they call the people by name and give them the permit to go with their next of kin to the hospital?? Why does the Heberon DCO decide to deny request for a permit to a women when he ought to be doing so through the health coordinator? And why does the Hebron DCO not answer the phone???? Nothing is new, but still, this annoys me to no end.