Afternoon

The conditions at Abu Dis get worse from week to week.When we arrived at 4:00 p.m., there were no Palestinians in detention. We noticed hundreds of young men cutting through houses and backyards to successfully avoid the machsom. There were 6 Border policemen on duty at the intersection -- plus a jeep. We didn't notice any at anyplace other than at the intersection.As was already written, the barricade was extended from the main road clear through to the mosque. Some barbed wire was thrown over part of the barricade for good measure.There was a lot of movement -- a steady flow of pedestrians maneuvering their way over the wall in each direction.We walked to the top of the hill, beyond El Kuds university. A large building there which was part of the university is entirely abandoned. There was once a passageway from the grounds to the other side of Abu Dis, but that is blockaded. However, if one wants to get to the other side, the person can do so by climbing over a wall at the back of the building. Once again, the barricade doesn't prevent people from getting through. It just makes it more difficult.We took a transit to the machsom at Suwahrah. That is one of two machsomim that people coming from Bethlehem must pass through. The journey took about 10 minutes in each direction. As soon as we got there, the border policemen declared the area "a closed military area", but after a few minutes of discussion, they loosened up a bit. They allowed vehicles through in both directions.Suwahrah is one of two machsomim that people coming from and going to Bethlehem must pass through. We met several people who said that they work in Bethlehem and it can take them hours to get there, changing transits, and walking a good part of the way.One of us met a man that she recognized who is now living in the hovel near the mosque. He worked for 20 years as a nurse at the Ruben rehabilitation center and another nursing facility in Jerusalem. Now, he is unemployed. He said that one night, the police came and arrested his 18 year old son and sentenced him to 7 months in jail at Megiddo and a thousand shekel fine. As we were about to leave, we saw 11 men (all middle aged) being held. There were more Team: Michal Zofen, Rina Harrison, Rahel WeinbergThe conditions at Abu Deis get worse from week to week.When we arrived at 4:00 p.m., there were no Palestinians in detention. We noticed hundreds of young men cutting through houses and backyards to successfully avoid the machsome. There were 6 magavniks on duty at the intersection --plus a jeep. We didn't notice any anyplace other than at the intersection.As was already written, the barricade was extended from the main road clear through to the mosque. Some barbed wire was thrown over part of the barricade for good measure.There was a lot of movement -- a steady flow of pedestrians maneuvering their way over the wall in each direction.We walked to the top of the hill, beyond El Kuds university. A large building there which was part of the university is entirely abandoned. There was once a passageway from the grounds to the other side of Abu Deis, but that is blockaded. However, if one wants to get to the other side, the person can do so by climbing over a wall at the back of the building. Once again, the barricade doesn't prevent people from getting through. It just makes it more difficult.We took a transit to the machsome at Suahrah. That is one of two machsomim that people coming from Bethlehem must pass through. The journey took about 10 minutes in each direction. As soon as we got there, the magavnikim declared the area "a closed military area", but after a few minutes of discussion, they loosened up a bit. They were allowed vehicles through in both directions.Suahrah is one of two machsomim that people coming from and going to Bethlehem must pass through. We met several people who said that they work in Bethlehem and it can take them hours to get there, changing transits, and walking a good part of the way.Rina met a man that she recognized who is now living in the hovel near the mosque. He worked for 20 years as a nurse at the Ruben rehabilitation center and another nursing facility in Jerusalem. Now, he is unemployed. He said that one night, the police came and arrested his 18 year old son and sentenced him to 7 months in jail at Megiddo and a thousand shekel fine. As we were about to leave, we saw 11 men (all middle aged) being held. There were more border policemen on duty and several were singularly unpleasant. (One lectured us about all Jews being born with good hearts, and that our problem is that we are too kind to the Arabs -- all of whom drive Mercedes and live much better than he does). The person in charge was quite efficient, and all the detainees were released within about a half hour. (In the meanwhile, hundreds more continued to pour in via back routes).