Etzion DCL, Tue 15.3.11, Afternoon

: DCL Kfar Etzion

14.25 When we arrived there was no one in the waiting room and no soldier.  Soon  after, a man came for a magnetic card and we phoned for a soldier who came immediately and remained at the window.

When we asked if it had been quiet all day he said that there had been a crowd in the morning but ‘of course’ they had all received attention.

There were just a couple of people coming for permits.

One man who had come for a permit told us that his brother had been refused entry, not knowing whether by Security or Police.  We gave him instructions and Sylvia’s and Chaya’s details.

One young man told us he had come in the morning with a hospital form for an appointment next day. He was sent to the police officer who told him to show him the form and he would sign for a permit but when he went back to the office the soldiers could not find it!  Now he was going back for it.  It came as a surprise to us to hear that the police officer was present in the afternoon.

One young Christian man was applying for a permit as a student of tourism in Bethlehem.  He and four others were being sponsored(?)/vouched for(?) by the Van Leer institute so as to visit the sites in Jerusalem.  He expressed his horror at the Itamar murders and was convinced that, as had been reported, it was committed by Thailanders who had been caught.

In a couple of instances, people who looked as if they had made previous appointments went round to the back entrance, did whatever business they had there, and departed