Morning

This was a very routine watch: the usual detainees by the gas station - most were released within 20 minutes of our arrival, others held for an hour or so and then returned to the West Bank side of the wall. A small group of women students (with student id's) was prevented from crossing. The commander of the checkpoint was civil and business like, but explained that Abu Dis and Azariyeh were under curfew and that "he didn't need to tell us" that students constitute a danger! While this discussion was going on, the women walked past and headed for Jerusalem. This happened several times - one group of students would be detained and checked, while half a dozen others passed freely, unnoticed. In the background people making their way through the fields, clearly seen from the guard post. At the mosque - the crossing is slightly more accessible, two policement checked id's of those entering the Jerusalem side, but again, business-like and civil. On the Abu Dis side very quiet because of curfew but by no means deserted...