Beit Ummar, Bethlehem, Etzion DCL, Mon 16.11.09, Afternoon

Etzion DCL: we arrived in the afternoon. The DCL was deserted. A soldier, just arrived in the DCL, was in the window. I explained to him who we are, and after a few minutes he called me and asked: “Do you also bother about Gilad Shalit.” A nice comparison, now that I am in my warm home, to think that the Palestinians are like Gilad Shalit, prisoners of war (in my understanding) or just kidnapped in the hands of criminals.

I explained something to the soldier about the laws of war and the Fourth Geneva Convention, and said that there are clearly violations also on the other side (if it belongs to the definitions).

There was also a blacklistee who was not issued a magnetic card - or was confused and the problem was with a permit that he did not get, and he was waiting for a conversation with Shabak - and he was still waiting when we left.
And E., who had half her body amputated, had come again to get a permit, saying that they gave her each time according to invitations to hospital. In a check that we made, turns out that Hadassah over long periods does not submit to Beth El, so this remarkable woman, who had succeeded in getting a driving license, finds herself all too often at the DCL.

A conversation with Rawi temporarily resolved the problem and she was given an entry permit for a month. We hope that during the month the bureaucracy will be arranged. Rawi is transferring to Ramallah next week. Danny remains and is getting reinforcement.

We felt the coming of winter in Beit Ummar.

A warm and pleasant winter.