BEthlehem and environs--thurs. Jan. 20,05 Id El AtchaObservers:Gili K., Maya M, Nurit S.(reporting)shift lasted from 3-6:30 An Id El Atcha story:We drove directly to the Etzion DCO hoping to catch it still open (it closes at 4PM on thursdays) but when we arrived it was already closed. We decided to drive south a little. There was no visible army presence in Beit Omar. We drove further south. Along Rd. 60, not near any settlement we saw a blue traffic jeep on the side of the road with three traffic policemen and a large Palestinian family standing next to their car. We stopped to inquire what was going on. At first the traffic policman asked us what we want, but when he saw our Machsomwatch badges he said, "YOur lights are not on and your back seat passenger is not wearing a seat belt, I will give you a citation." So we joined the Palestinian family and got our citations. NUrit (owner and driver of the car 100 shekel for not having lights and a passenger with no seat belt and Gili 100 shekel for being a passenger with no seat belt). The family told us that they have been standing there for about one hour. I am proud to say that we remained calm and friendly to all. We inquired about the family's situation and heard the following story: The family (9 people including a baby, three children, three women ( of various ages) and two men) were on their way to celebrate Id El Atacha with family in Yatta. They were all dressed up. Their car was old and falling apart, literally the doors were held together with wires and the police stopped them, said that the vehicle was not road worthy and that it is illegal to drive such a car on the roads. They got a fine of 1500 shekel. They told us, and the police, that the car was not worth 1000 shekel. HOwever, since they are poor, this is the only vehicle they can afford and they wish to celebrate the holdiay with their family. The police said that this vehicle could be moved from the spot only by a tow truck. This large family was stuck out in the cold in the middle of nowhere on their holiday. We started to try to deal with the problem of transporting them to Yatta, which is quite a distance away. Maya gently spoke to the policemen about how unfortunate this situation is. The police stopped a taxi, with the intention of sending the family to Yatta in it, but it turned out that the taxi was actually just an ordinary car with false plates, pretending it was a taxi, so to speak. So ofcourse, the taxi also got held up and given citations. Maya stopped another Palestinian car, this one a nice distinguished looking car and asked the dirver to help this family get to Yatta. The driver of this car gave Maya a bunch of phone numbers of taxis in Hebron. But he, and also the family said that it would be hard to find a taxi as it's holiday and the taxi drivers are celebrating at home. People came and went and somehow the atmosphere softened up. Maya talked with the policemen, Gili talked with the family...somehow the baby got transferred into Gili's arms, one of the young men in the Palestinian family proposed to Gili, the policeman said that he should approach her father and not her directly, Gili joked about her father's probable reaction...people smiled... it was getting colder and almost dark. And no solution to the family's problem. Cars came and went. Finally the driver of the Palestinian car that was taken off the road came up to us and told us that the policman had told him to wait until they(the police) leave, then wait until we (machsomwatch) leave and then they should get into their car and continue on their way! So we waited for the police to drive off into the horizon and then the family climbed back into their unroadworthy car and drove off....after a lot of handshaking, hugs and kisses. Somehow we were credited with this resolution to their problem, although the fine of 1500 shekel did not disappear. JUst another little event in Palestian life under occupation. We questioned the various drivers who came and went about the presence of the blue police (traffic) and they said that their presence is rare. We asked the policeman who gave us the fine where the money for the fines goes...he said, "if I started to try to find out I would be discharged". I wondered if this money shouldn't go to the Palestinian Authority since it's on Palestinian Authority land and he said that it is tranfered to them via France (Suha Arafat)..(haha). This seems to be an example of the use of traffic laws to harrass the population. It would be interesting to try to follow where this money actually goes. Perhaps we can ask a Knesset memeber who is sympathetic to us to try to find out.El Khader: we passed El Khader and noticed nothing unusal.Beit Jala CP: There was a lot of traffic and a long line, but it was moving.Walleje: deserted as usual with some freezing soldiers waving us through.