Update Bethlehem

Toine van Teeffelen

July 26, 2002

Here in Bethlehem we had a different regime this week; instead of a full-time curfew we now had each day, except Friday, opening hours from nine in the morning till two in the afternoon. On Friday there was a full closure. The expectation is that next week the number of opening hours will increase to allow for a certain normalization of people’s work. Other developments this week are less of a tank presence on the streets and more stability in the opening hours. Last week, there were all the time last minute changes in especially the closing moment, which made daily planning quite frustrating. So there is a bit of improvement. Nonetheless, after the killing of the Hamas leader and many civilians and youth in Gaza, the mood is somber. What to do when the Israeli leadership does not want peace?

One remarkable phenomena is that teachers, youth leaders and others put much voluntary effort in developing improvised summer activities for children and youth. Due to the curfews from March on, there has been little of the usual organizational planning for such summer activities. But, in general, people have less energy and focus after all those months.