Bethlehem, Etzion DCL, Sun 19.9.10, Afternoon
Etzion DCL, 15:15 pm: few people waiting, and even they are let in within
minutes. The blue policeman is off duty today, no explanations. The
soldier at the window is at the window, and we express our appreciation
for the state of the waiting room -- a big change from the previous Sunday
PM.
Route 60, Etzion's old Checkpoint: there are soldiers manning the old CP, as there have
been for the past 3 weeks. Since we don't see them stopping anyone, it is
unclear what they are doing there.
Bethlehem - Checkpoint 300, 4-5pm: From afar we can hear the hubbub of distress. The
2 parallel lines are long as reach all the way to the road, maybe 100 men
strong. Nothing moves. We sqeeze our way inside, to see a single booth
open, dealing with the traffic going INTO Jerusalem, and a couple of
soldiers chatting outside the booths. Before we can complain, police
officer E arrives, and instructs the civilian guards to let everyone
though, unchecked. He has to encourage the guards to speed up, as one in
particular seems uninclined to make passage so swift and easy, and keeps
trying to bodily push the surging crowd back. But they may have been
waiting a long time before we arrived, and now they rush through in
minutes. Meanwhile new busloads arrive, and a new line forms. They are
allowed in 5 by 5, but when this is not fast enough, another round is
allowed passage unchecked. We only left when the stream of arrivals
abated, but during that time, passage was sufficiently swift, though only
2 booths were working.
It is ironic when we get the occasional ire of the frustrated
Palestinians: "Why don't you do something?", "Why aren't you always
here?", "why don't you go to the Bethlehem side?". Our power to help is
clearly overestimated.
The vehicle CP outside has reopened.