Abu Dis, Ras Abu Sbitan (Olive Terminal), Sun 10.1.10, Morning

7:00  Ma'aleh Adumim

Today we decided to drive to Ma'aleh Adumim and observe its development.  We entered from the east and saw the infrastructure for the polic station opposite; it was clear that more buildings will rise around it, finally creating territorial continuity also from the east.

For all intents and purposes, this settlement operates as a city, with an abundance of schools (mostly of the religious educational stream), and colleges, and an imposing shopping mall.  From Ma'aleh Adumim we drove to Al-Ezariya and reached the Zeitim crossing from the other side.

7:45  Zeitim Crossing

At the crossing we spoke with two drivers who told us that the toilets put up there were open for one months only, and are now closed.  The army's pretext: children went in and took a lot of water!  A serious misdemeanour.  They also told us that the hours between 4 and 6 a.m. are the busiest, and that today's queue reached as far as the parking lot.

8:15  Az-Za'ayyem

We entered on the side that remains outside the Wall.  A sorry spectacle: ghostly abandoned streets, closed shops, a few open and silent.  We spoke with a grocer who told us that border police roam around from 1 a.m. in the streets and along the wall, enter homes, and occasionally beat up people in the street "no matter who they are."

We filmed the lower crossing (under the bridge) and the checkpoint.  No crossing in the direction of Jerusalem, only towards Ma'aleh Adumim.

9:00  Sheikh Jarrakh

Nasser Rawwi and the protest tent: The police, he says, who close the street on Fridays because of the demonstration of support (which ends no later than 16:00), leave the street closed until 20:00.