'Anata-Shuafat, Wed 18.1.12, Morning

Translation: Judith Green

7:00-8:00

We passed through the fenced in lane on the other side of the new checkpoint.  There was a lot of activity in the new parking lot.  A huge number of buses came in to park and students were getting on themhttp://www.machsomwatch.org/en/node/add/content-daily-report?translation....
There are a lot of ushers keeping order from the neighborhood committees;  they direct the traffic and help the students find the correct bus.  The head of the neighborhood committee explained that the residents had managed to come to an arrangement with the Municipality, that the school buses could pass through the checkpoint in a special lane without any military inspection.  The expenses of the transportation are covered by the Municipality;  the drivers are Palestinian. In this way, 3000 students pass through every morning to their schools and return home.  The students are from Shu’afat Camp, Ras Hamis, Ras Ishchadah, Islam neighborhood and Anata.

The roads nearest to the Wall are neglected, empty, and most of the shops are closed.  Only the students are rushing toward the parking lot.  Only one cart is selling coffee and pastries.  Garbage is piled up high, many of the shops seem to have been torched.  There is an elementary near all this garbage and the Wall.  One of the teachers chatted with us, with a sad and apologetic expression about the situation - both the situation of the students and also the environment in which they are living.

We returned by way of the checkpoint, through 3 turnstiles, and no one did any inspection.  A few soldiers were fooling around behind the fortified windows.  The appearance of the checkpoint is quite terrifying.  An atmosphere like a prison, violent, inhuman, completely unconnected to normal life outside.  Above, behind the fenced in lane, within a traffic circle, there was a police vehicle and a policeman randomly stopped people going through the checkpoint.  When we asked why they were checking them one more time, after they had already been through the checkpoint inspection, they referred us to the police spokesperson;  the policeman was not willing to even talk to to us.

We recommend taking as many people as possible to visit this checkpoint.  It is very close to the city, new, you can even see the garage of the light railway and the apartment blocks of French Hill.  The full satanic nature of the occupation is quite visible from here.