Bethlehem (300), Nuaman (Mazmuria)

Place:

Bethlehem (300)

Nu'man (Mazmuria)

Sheikh Abdallah Ibrahim / Wadi Rahal (Efrat, Gush Etzion)

Observers:

Natanya G. (English), Hanna B., Anat T. and Kamal driver

Nov-27-2022

Morning

Checkpoint commando in Givat Eitam

Photo:

Anat Tueg

Location Description

Nu'man (Mazmuria)

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situated on the Wall route as part of "Jerusalem Envelope," in its southeastern stretch, east of Zur Baher, Um Tuba and the small Nuaman Village, on Beit Sahur road, the checkpoint will serve as the main crossing for commercial goods from the southern West Bank to Jerusalem.

Bethlehem (300)

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Located adjacent to the Separation Wall ("Jerusalem Wrap") at the north entrance to Bethlehem, this checkpoint cuts off Bethlehem and the entire West Bank from East Jerusalem, with all the serious implications for health services, trade, education, work and the fabric of life. The checkpoint is manned by the Border police and private security companies. It is an extensive infrastructure barrier and is designated as a border terminal, open 24 hours a day for foreign tourists. Israeli passport holders are not allowed to pass to Bethlehem, and Palestinian residents are not allowed to enter Jerusalem, except those with entry permits to Israel and East Jerusalem residents. Israeli buses are allowed to travel to Bethlehem only through this checkpoint.

The checkpoint, which demonstrated harsh conditions of crowding and extreme passage delays for years, started employing advanced electronic identification posts and has upgraded its gates info-icon

' system as of the middle of 2019 - and conditions improved.

Adjacent to the checkpoint, in an enclosure between high walls and another passage, is the historic Rachel's Tomb, which is now embedded within a concrete fortified building. It contains prayer and study complexes for Jews only, as well as a residential complex.

updated November 2019

Sheikh Abdallah Ibrahim / Wadi Rahal (Efrat, Gush Etzion)

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The Sheikh Abdallah Ibrahim / Wadi Rahal (Efrat, Gush Etzion) CP is located on the access road to the Efrat settlement.
The road also leads to land owned by Palestinians from Wadi Rahal and manned by the security guards of the Efrat settlement. The checkpoint is open to passing Israelis 24 hours a day. Palestinian workers and cleaners can pass only according to a list of contractors and in their presence.
In light of the enormous expansion of Efrat, it sounds reasonable that about 1000 workers pass there every morning.
We met a laborer on his way to the checkpoint and asked whether he had a work permit. He showed us a permit that was bought from a contractor for a considerable amount of money.

The last time we visited this checkpoint (07:00 in the morning) we could witness the "slave market" held there. Contractors "sell" each other workers and professionals. The workers come mainly from the surrounding villages and they are spared the detour through the Bethlehem checkpoint. The eastward expansion of the Efrat is a link in a broader plan that aims to create a territorial continuum between the Gush Etzion bloc and the Dead Sea area while crossing the occupied territories (thereby preventing continuous Palestinian control of the West Bank." (From a MahsomWatch report, 2022)

Nov-13-2024

Ronny Perlman

Ibei HaNahal: cars of the Palestinian workers building the settlement

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