Etzion DCL

Etzion DCL: Occupation Grievances and More

10.45  at the entrance to DCL waiting hall we were greeted by a smiling young man who said he just learned that his prevention from entering Israel was removed and he hopes to get a work permit in Israel.

At the entrance to the waiting room sat an elderly woman who was waiting for her son. The son (30) was invited to a meeting with GSS this morning. She accompanied him. When they arrived, he was ushered inside and didn’t come out since. She has been waiting for him all this time and she has no idea how long she will have to wait.

An elderly man approached us and said that his wife was sick with leukemia, blind, and her condition was dire. She is being treated at Hadassah-Ein Karem hospital. He has a letter from doctors at Hadassah requesting that he, his wife and his car be granted a permit to enter Israel. Meanwhile, he has to pay NIS 400 for each ride to Hadassah! We told him we were hoping to get him a ride through the organization On the Way to Recovery headed by Yuval Roth. We tried to call Roth but so far were unable to reach him.

A young man arrived and said he was married to an Israeli woman and was prevented from entering Israel. After some efforts, he managed to remove the prevention, but a week after the removal it was imposed again. A short time ago we encountered a similar case of removal of prevention and then imposing it again. Apparently, it is now used systematically.

Another young man said that he too is married to an Israeli woman. He tried to get a permit for an extended stay in Israel, but the Interior Ministry explained to him and his wife that they begin handling this kind of permits only at the age of 35. At the moment he gets a permit to visit her once every three months.

n elderly man, who has been denied entry to Israel since 2002, said he spent one day in detention at Etzion Prison and was released. Four years ago, he sought to remove the prevention imposed on him after a day of detention- and was refused. We advised him to reapply for removal.

Before we left, the guy we met at the entrance approached us and asked for Sylvia's phone number. "I want to thank her," he said, adding "I am an Arab."