Bethlehem, Etzion DCL, Sun 19.4.09, Afternoon

15:00  PM, Etzion DCL:  six people are waiting in the hall, all of them except one are waiting for the GSS. One of them claims that he has been waiting since 08.00, and the other from 11:00. 
About half an hour after we arrive, they gradually start to be called-in (except those who have already been waiting for a long time). In spite of our attempts to help the waiting people, they are eventually called-in only at about 17:00. Every now-and–again people arrive for permits, and they enter without a long wait. 

The one Palestinian who is not waiting for the GSS is waiting for a facsimile to arrive from his lawyer. We try to help him for about two hours, by means of telephone-calls to the lawyer, requests to the soldier at the window and eventually with the officer. From time-to-time we are told that the fax has arrived and the man even enters, but comes out again after being told that it hasn’t arrived. Eventually it appears that he has been told to report for a medical examination at Strauss Medical Center in Jerusalem on the order of a judge, and needs a permit to cross in order to get there. Only at about 17:00 he succeeds to enter, to explain what he needs and then he is told what he needs to do in order to achieve his aims. He leaves satisfied. 

A number of people come and ask for our help.   They are in despair and don’t know what to do.  Each time the same story repeats itself :    The GSS is trying to recruit them to cooperate (as informers – translator), and when they refuse, their life is made difficult and they become “GSS refused”, even though there is no clear and proven complaint against them. 

One of them sells marble to Israeli building contractors; it was explained to him that because up-till-now he has behaved so well and there have never been any complaints against him, the time has come for him to “contribute”.   In the meantime he is prevented from crossing into Israel.  Another Palestinian works in Jordan as an engineer from time-to-time , but now he is prevented from doing-so because he refused to cooperate with the GSS. 

Another story from a man who is summoned every now and again by “the captain” ; he is told to sit in the waiting-hall for five hours and is even not allowed to go to the toilet, and then released (without even having seen “the captain”), only to receive another summons after several days, and this is repeated again-and-again.

It should be pointed out that the soldiers are polite all the time (although not efficient), and before we leave ask that we write good things about them in our report.