To: Barbara Olson
Date: Wed, 14 Jan 2004 15:13:33 -0500
From: Cisco Bradley
Subject: Jennifer is in GazaBarb,
To clarify, Jennifer went to Erez after the bombing. The bombing occurred around 9 this morning and Jennifer went to Erez around 6 pm this evening. She confirmed she got across around 7 pm and is staying in a hotel in Gaza City because the north-south checkpoint within Gaza was already closed. She will proceed to Rafah in the morning. Apparently the press card was enough for her to get through Erez.
George is currently waiting for his press card to arrive. Once it comes via Fed Ex, he will go through the process of getting the Israeli approval, though this can take as long as two days.
I am going to pursue the Embassy as my way of getting in. Tammy Baldwin's office has put pressure on the Embassy to assist me in getting in. If I can get an official stamp, which I will try to do first thing in the morning, I will make my attempt. I am not sure whether it will work or not.
Either way, I'll keep you informed of our progress. We thought that the explosion at Erez might close the crossing for a number of days, but it occurred along the industrial part of the crossing, not where the civilians cross, so they only closed that part for a few hours.
Cisco