'Anata-Shu'afat, Al-Ezariya, Container (Wadi Nar)
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Observers:
Julia W., Rahel W. (reporting)
Feb-16-2015
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Afternoon
Anata
There was a big back up of traffic of vehicles going toward Anata. As we waited in the area in front of the checkpoint, we saw a garbage truck disgorging a load of refuse in the growing pile of trash. The site around the checkpoint (in municipal Jerusalem ) could be used as the setting for Slumdog Millionaire. And of course, the trash spills over to the entire area, settling amidst the broken glass and other refuse. As the truck was offloading its trash, we saw individuals pillaging through the mess for possible reusables.
En route from Al Ezariya to Wadi Nar.
As we travelled along the road from Al Ezariya to Wadi Nar, we were caught up in a line of slow moving vehicles. When we approached the area which had been a Bedouin encampment, we saw a huge crane, several ambulances, too many police cars to count, border police and crowds of people. A group of journalists was interviewing someone at the side of the road. It appears that there was a demonstration against the demolition of the area. Across the road and around the bend from this area we saw a group of young men throwing stones. Of necessity, to avoid running over the rocks in the street, we had to slow down and felt ourselves to be extremely vulnerable. At the time that we were there,( about 3 p.m.) despite the large number of military and police, there was no action being taken to disperse the stone throwers.
On our way back, we had to come to slow down to about 25 kilometers per hour to avoid wrecking our tires. Unfortunately, there was no place where we could safely stop and find out just what was going on. I assume the events will be covered in today’s news broadcast.