Observation of closures in Southeastern Jerusalem

.From 7:00 till 9:00 AM

Our shift consisted of inspecting various roads leading in and out of Arab neighborhoods within the city limits. We were late to arrive at CP 300 and noted that most workers had already passed. Along the Lieberman Road underneath Har Shmuel (Har Homa) we noted that all entrances to Umm Tuba had been closed by concrete cubes which can be passed on foot. Soldiers, a chemical toilet and a kind of plastic gazebo  were at the main entrance road; only a few cars passed in both directions. None were held up. At the northern entrance of Sur Baher we entered as far as the schools. It was close to 08:00 and the place was full of cars which were parked all over and made turning difficult. Further down was another school with a proper gate and police guards – probably for Jewish children. We drove along Talpiyoth Mizrach (Armon Hanatziv) and there too we saw that only one opening had been left for cars and the rest can be crossed without difficulty on foot. Ackerstein must have done a brisk business supplying all those concrete blocks. We crossed the Oz camp and went to Nof Zion. At the bottom we looked at the various roads and their closures along the Road of the Americas from above. The car in front of us was checked when we returned via the Oz CP. There were no closures in Abu Tor, we entered via Naomi Street and exited from Ein Rogel. On the way we missed the road to the new Jewish settlement in Abu Tor, but we will inspect it next time. Apparently more road blocks have meanwhile been removed and it doesn’t look as if there is any ‘work’ for us among the southeastern closures. Maybe we should concentrate on ‘Anata and Issawiye.