Bethlehem and surroundings, Monday afternoon. 6.2.2006Observers: Shlomit S. Ora A. (reporting)Natanya translating.DCO Ezyon: 13/00. The DCO is closed for renovation but that does not stop the secret service from summoning people, taking their ids and letting them wait outside until they are called. When we arrived a young man was waiting and he said he had been given a summons for the morning and he has been waiting outside in the open for 4 hours without even a place to sit, no water and no toilets. Most of our phone calls went unanswered and those that were did not help. An elderly man arrives with a letter about an operation in Jerusalem the next day. We spoke to Dalia Bassa who said he should go the Palestinian DCO and promised that she would arrange the necessary permit. Another man arrived and approached the sentry who yelled at him to move away, strip his upper body , show his stomach, chest and wrists and to turn around a few times. Shlomit photographed this “dance”. A man in civilian clothing then appeared at the gate and demanded that Shlomit hand over the camera and said that we were both under arrest. We demanded he identify himself and he showed us a card which gave only his personal name and stated that he worked at the office of the prime minister and had the right to demand various details from anyone who was in the area of the prime minister’s office. We said that the area in which we were standing was not included and that he had no right to demand anything from us. After an argument he checked the photos, was very interested in the pictures of her grandchildren and left.14.30 Ezyon checkpoint. A long line of Palestinian and Israeli cars held up by roadwork.15.00 Rachel’s Crossing: Quiet. No complaints and no detainees.15.15 Next to the huts at the old 300 stands a Palestinian who says he has been detained since the morning. A border policeman will not let us speak to him. When the door of a hut opens we see other detainees. No one answers our telephones. Only Noam from the humanitarian centre promises to check. 16.15 He phones to tell us the happy news that he checked and there are no detainees at the old 300. At the end of this frustrating shift we were happy at one small success. A Palestinian with American citizenship who had been visiting his family was refused permission to fly from Ben Gurion and told to go through Jordan. We phoned Dan Goldenblatt and he managed to get the necessary permission.