Morning

Share:
Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Email
Dec-19-2002
|

Twenty held-up Palestinians (with orange and green ID-cards) were released after about fifteen minutes. The border police -soldier who was on the whole rather pleasant informed us that he was allowed to keep them up to three hours (‘in order to teach them a lesson’) and even six, with the permission of his commander. The drivers of two transits (vans with orange license plates) who supposedly had transported illegals were held up and will be handed over to the blue police. Their vehicles will be taken off the road for 30 days according to the soldiers. All people with blue ID’s and valid permits were allowed through. Up on the road to the North men, women and many schoolchildren passed unhampered under and over the concrete slabs and got very dirty (muddy) in the process. Helmuth met us at the entrance of Notre Dame des Douleurs. He told us that he usually opens the gate at 4:30 in the morning to facilitate the passage of Palestinians. He introduced us to Sister Angele from S. Lebanon who fondly remembered the Israeli soldiers there from the time before she came to Abu Dis some twelve years ago. He told us that most of their funding hails from the Dutch C&A (the Brenningmeier Family). The guard at the University told us that on Wednesday (yesterday) soldiers had entered the premises and grabbed two students. After the interference of amongst others Sari Nusseiba they were released, but the fact that for the army for the first time had entered inside was extremely alarming and disturbing. A young woman who had given birth two months ago prematurely in Hadassa Ein Karem returned from a visit to the father of her child in Abu Dis. She was on her way to the Social Security in an effort to convince them that she as the holder of an Israeli ID (unlike the father of the child) she was entitled to receive free medical care for her babyinfo-icon who is still in the neonatal unit. Otherwise she would have to pay more than 60,000 Shekels for hospitalization.There was heavy traffic on the other side of the fence until 8:00 AM when it was (seemingly arbitrarily) decided that no one was allowed to pass. The only way left was along the stairs beyond the gas station.