Abu Dis, Container (Wadi Nar), Sheikh Saed, Wed 2.6.10, Afternoon

14:00 till 17:00

Sheikh Saad

We had heard that the red light at the entrance to Sheikh Saad had been turned to green once, but today there was no car entering and the light was as red as ever.

Quite a lot of girls on their way back from school passed unhampered and we also walked up without being asked any questions. There were no people loitering above the CP and all looked quiet, we returned - the metal detector screamed, but we didn’t even have to show our ID’s.

City of David

We decided to investigate the impromptu CP in the City of David and drove off the Road of the Americas towards Dung Gate. We tried in vain to call Mahmoud , who had requested our presence, but got no reply – next time we will call him a day earlier.

There was no Border Police near the entrance to the City of David.

We proceeded towards Sheikh Jarrah and talked to two Palestinians and two ISM people (a girl from Italy and a young man from the States).

We were told that the two newly evicted households were people who lived cheaply in Amidar housing and that one elderly woman had been told to sign something if she wanted to remain in her home. It had turned out that she had signed to a very high rent with a closure that if she didn’t pay up she would be evicted.
Apparently a lawyer is trying to undo the damage.

The ISM people told us about their friend who had lost an eye two days ago during a demonstration near Qalandia where she was hit with a tear-gas canister and the tear gas had been sprayed straight into her eye, her jaw bone has been wired and her father (a Zionist from the New York area) who had been unaware of his daughters activities is constantly at her bedside in Hadassa.
 
Settlers came and went eyeing us suspiciously.

Wadi Nar

We proceeded to Wadi Nar where contrary to a newspaper report we saw that the settler road to Qedar was NOT open to Palestinian traffic only the one via the garbage dump which is used by the traffic to Azzariya and beyond, whereas the road turning left is now only used by vehicles to the University of Al Kuds and Abu Dis.

All vehicles passed smoothly and no one was held up.