Morning

We did not encounter any soldiers or police en route to Abu Dis or at the intersection. The crossing of the wall is now impossible, since it is blocked with heavy stones, huge pipes and other building debris. People crossed through a fairly wide opening made by a pushed forward concrete block near the gas station. Sawahre – We went there by bus No. 63 with a driver we met before. While we were driving to Sawahre, the bus driver called us over and asked us to refrain from complaining to the border police about the bus-transit problem or any other motor traffic problems since they (the bus drivers) have established a good relationship with the authorities. We got to Sawahre at about 9:45 to find it fully closed. The barrier was pulled down. Some cars were waiting on both ends of the checkpoint. Behind the barrier from the Bethlehem side stood a car with a red cross on it and the words pharmaceuticals written under it in red. No pedestrians were allowed through in either direction. We could see another checkoint down below in the wadi, which more or less stopped all traffic. Very few people made their way through the hill. A few minutes after we arrived, two border police asked for our ID’s and warned us that we are in area B where Israeli law does not apply, and if anything happened to us it would be our own fault. We asked why the “pharmaceutical car” was not allowed to pass. “Oh” he said, “he only has one little parcel with medication, and all the rest is milk powder”. We pointed out that milk powder might be food for babies and he let the car through. A small lorry with a lot of cabbage in it (the driver claimed he was there from 06:00 in the morning) was also finally let through. We were just leaving when we spotted a man viewing the passage through the hill in dismay. He is a orthopedic surgeon and needed to get to the hospital in Bethlehem and did not feel he could make it through the hill. We tried phoning Physicians for Human Rights but there was no answer. We then phoned the army human rights place, which answered immediately and tried to be helpful. We explained the situation, and they promised to call the checkpoint and they did. Meanwhile the doctor found a lift ready to take him to Bethlehem, but that car was not let through. When we left, he was waiting for some other transportation, although he had his permission to go.