Abu Dis, Ras Abu Sbitan (Olive Terminal), Sheikh Saed
The remaining open piece of wall at the checkpoint has finally been closed -- rather oddly. It's low, with gaps in which garbage and barbed wire tangle -- but the height will come. From talks with people we gather a sense of resignation, and the knowledge that they will continue to attempt crossing into Jerusalem by any possible means, because in Nablus, Bethlehem and Hebron there is no work. So they continue to try and infiltrate, sometimes successfully and sometimes caught. The soldiers at the checkpoint say that, according to General Security investigations, the terrorist who stabbed the soldier on a bus in Afula, crossed in this area. If this is true, it follows that one incident justifies the isolation of an entire community and its livelihood. Justification will always be found for the cruel checkpoint regime, despite a two-year lull in attacks.
By the way, talking to locals, we get the impression that there was less snow in the El-Azariya area, and the Old City itself -- The East Jerusalem Electricity Board functioned well, there were almost no power outages. People were able to go to the bakeries for bread, and they cleared their own piles of snow. We asked ourselves whether the habit of not depending on authorities breeds greater self-sufficiency in difficult times.
8:00 Drive through Ras Al Amud and Mt. Zion to Jabel Mukhaber
There were no blockages, and morning traffic in the Old City was pretty sleepy. In the parking lot, next to the border police base at the entrance to Jabel Mukhaber, we met Dafna from the "Bimkom" lobby (for planning rights), armed with maps of area plans for Sheikh Saed, the eastern ring road, and the wall route. We asked her to join us and explain what exactly hides behind the works "to upgrade the checkpoint and build a parking lot for the residents." The residents have applied, via their lawyer, to the Ministry of Defence, but have received no replies, and they have not yet made contact with "Bimkom."
What is obvious is the closing of the wall in the area, the break in the Sheikh Saed hill, the construction of supporting walls, and the raising of the approach
route. The concrete building of the checkpoint will also be raised. The eastern ring road will pass below all that, connecting Gush Etzion and Route 60 with the Old City. According to Dafna, for the present there is no approval of the plans for the ring road in this area, yet things seem to be moving along. Meanwhile, a parking lot is being constructed for all the permanent residents of Jerusalem living in Sheikh Saed who, however, are not permitted to enter with their vehicles (despite two court orders). The parking lot is rather small, perhaps in the hope that the population of Sheikh Saed will decline, as indeed seems to be the case.
We include a photo of the map Dafna brought -- of poor quality also because it ends in the area of the Sheikh Saed checkpoint, but the ring road can be identified by the landscaping along it -- the road is marked by a broad red line with intermittent green/brown marks along it.