Sheikh Saed
One day after the car attack/accident in which 3 border-policemen were injured, and the driver shot dead.
Sheikh Saed
Anyone who has visited the neighbourhood recently will be aware of the simmering anger of the residents, fretting at the road blocks and increased presence of security forces. This presence is particularly evident in the morning and noon hours, when children are on their way to the many schools on the main road. The official reason is to prevent stone-throwing at tourist buses, but residents, and chiefly parents and educators, see this as a deliberate provocation. During all hours, but mostly in the morning, the main road is jammed. Numerous police and border-police vans block the road from the direction of Mokkasad Hospital, and create a serious disturbance.
6:30 Sheikh Saed
On our way to the checkpoint we drove through Jabel Mukabber where the family of the perpetrator lives. The streets looked like a battlefield: stones strewn all over the place, remnants of burnt tires and overturned dumpsters.
At the checkpoint people cross through the new building, but the inspection of documents still takes place in the booth outside the building. A thin stream of people crossed, and did not encounter any problems. The number of children crossing has decreased significantly.
A-Tur
We were surprised not to find the border-policemen we usually see in the little park near Mokkasad; their absence on the day after the attack was striking. But we soon discovered that breakfast-time displaces security. Three B.P. vans were parked in the middle of the road near the hospital and the High School, surrounded by many policemen. It was only after food and drink passed their hands that they returned to patrol the street.
Near the boys' High School, a number of devoted staff members made sure to distance the boys from any encounter with the border-police.
The headmaster spoke frankly of his sense of frustration at yesterday's event which will push back any hope for peace even further. He was shocked that the perpetrator was an ordinary citizen, married and the father of children, and with a decent job. At the same time, he was equally frustrated that -- despite promises -- the police continue to stand