Ezyon District Coordination Office and Rachel Checkpoint, Monday Dec. 11, 2006, Afternoon.Observers: Elka B.G., Mika G., Yael R. (reporting) 1:15 PM:A military vehicle stands at the entrance to the first tunnel. At the Tunnel Checkpoint cars going south are passing without inspection while cars going north are inspected. Al Nashash, 1:30 PM:The place is yellow with taxis. There is no Israeli military presence.On the main road towards Jerusalem, next to the entrance to Alon Shevut, a soldier is stopping cars for inspection. Ezyon District Coordination Office, 1:40 PMAs soon as we arrive several people who have been waiting there approach us and complain that they have been waiting for an hour and a half and the soldiers are not letting people through. About 20 people are waiting next to the carousels and 10 are in the shade structure . Mika left a voice mail message for the Deputy Commander of the District Coordination Office. Then about ten people pass through the carousels (Was this a result of the phone message? We’ll never know). Next to the main gate, several workers are waiting for work permits. They seem calm thanks to their employer, who is from one of the {Jewish} settlements and is taking care of their situation. One of them speaks an excellent Hebrew. When I ask him how his Hebrew is so good he answers that his father is a Muslim but his mother is Jewish. An American citizen is waiting and freezing cold. He wants to take his 93 year old father, who has Alzheimer’s, through to his brother in Jordan. He has all the necessary documents. He has been waiting for an hour already for someone who speaks English. Elka writes a note and asks the guard to pass it inside to the office. Someone going in takes the note but nothing happens. Again and again Elka tries to convince the soldier (the guard) to pick up the phone. Finally he agrees {and calls} and the response is that he {the American with his father} should wait by the carousel. A young man approaches us and says that he is unable to get a magnetic ID card because he has an open file with the police. He says he was caught entering {Israel} without a permit. When we tell him that only a lawyer can take care of his case, he says that a lawyer wants 1,000 shekels. We talk to Chaya {about it} and she says she will try to connect with a lawyer {she knows} who only charges 600 shekel and that the young man should call her a t the beginning of next week. Around 3:00 PM everyone enters the building. Some people had arrived near 3:00 PM and hardly waited at all {while others waited a long time}. We waited for Mr. Huri (the American fellow) and he exited elated as 3:45 PM. He almost kissed us when he saw that we were waiting for him. Nashash 3:50 PM:No Army presence. Tunnels Checkpoint, 3:55 PM:Among other cars stopped for inspection is an ambulance that had earlier passed us with its siren on. Rachel’s Passage, Checkpoint 300, 4:05 PM:The line of people returning to Bethlehem winds around to the outside. Three positions {for checking people} are active and are also used to check the few people going the other direction.