Bethlehem, Etzion DCL, Tue 21.7.09, Morning

 06:30 AM, Bethlehem - Checkpoint 300:  four checking posts were open. Lines were short – no wonder, as the pressure was on the Palestinian side. There was a big crowding over there, people kept telling us, waiting time was long and, some added, the female soldier stationed there was extremely rude.

08:00 AM, Etzion DCL: about fifteen people were waiting. There was a man whose palm print is systematically not identified by the computers in Bethlehem CP. So he keeps coming to the DCL, where they re-check the print, tell him that all is in order and send him on his way. The previous day he had decided to have his magnetic card renovated (45 NIS as compared with 85 NIS, the price of a new one) in the vain hope that this would solve the problem once and for all. It did not, and here he was yet again after he had been refused passage in the CP. All in all, the man is running around like this for a week, losing working days.