Abu Dis, Container (Wadi Nar), Ras Abu Sbitan (Olive Terminal), Sheikh Saed, Thu 16.4.09, Morning

Mimuna Day, last day of Pesach holiday; closure still in place.

6:15  Sheikh Saed

Normal traffic, without incidents.

Zeitim Crossing

From the outside all appears to be flowing unimpeded.  We went in and returned through the checkpoint.  We found that only lane #1 was operating and a queue was forming.  Lane #3, which serves the children in the morning, was closed even though the closure does not include school-children.

A call to A., the checkpoint commander, and within minutes lane #2 and then #3 opened.  The lines diminished, and when we crossed there was only a handful of peope in lanes #1 and #2.  Lane #3 was full of pupils as is normal in the morning hours.

A worker tried his luck: a chef in one of the restaurants in town, he tried to persuade that his work is necessary, but to no avail, and his day's labour was lost.

The light above the turnstile still does not match the reality of its opening, and when the green light is on and people try to push the locked turnstile, confusion and embarrassment ensue.

Traffic flows without incidents.  We met Abdullah, resident of Sawahara, who took us on a tour near old Kedar.  In proficient Hebrew he explained the extent to which the route of the wall which will surround Ma'aleh Adomim as well as old and new Kedar will mean the expropriation of much land, including his family's.  The planned route turns eastward south of new Kedar, and then somewhere in the Judean desert it will turn north in order to include Ma'aleh Adomim.

Close to the road leading to old Kedar there is a concrete building with small shelters for livestock.  The family living there grow a few vegetables and tend their livestock.  For water they depend on the grace of heaven and a cistern which fills up when it rains. When they tried to build a home for one of the daughters, the administration demolished it, and the ruins still stand there.  This was in the late 80's.  The building they use today was probably built in Jordanian times which is why it was spared demolition.  The future wall  will surround them entirely.