Afternoon

Abu Dis, Waai Naar (Sawahre Checkpoint), Maale Adumim.MachsomWatchers: S, N. We decided to drive to the Palestinian side of Abu Dis in order to see what was happening at the Maale Adumim checkpoint. We chose to drive there through the tunnel from Mt. Scopus and encountered no checkpoint at all.So we went on the wall in Abu Dis. Everything was as usual. People told us that last evening at 6 PM, a gas bomb was thrown over the wall (a Christmas present?).We spoke to a number of men who were hanging around the wall and were eager to talk. One insisted that I take his worry beads as a gift for my car. (Me, of all people to give beads to! :-).Another man, who spoke excellent Hebrew, told us that he had worked as a nurse in a geriatric hospital for many years. He lost his job when the hospital closed, so now can't get a tashrikh [permit for passage] and has not been across the wall for 2 years. He sells coffee in a little butke[booth, kiosk] beside the wall. We drove to Wadi Naar (Sawahre),which was quite congested with a long line of cars going from Abu Dis to Bethlehem.There were many taxis. These are the workers coming home after a week away at work.In the other direction there was a short line.There were many Border Police there and they checked the cars, which they did slowly. The traffic moved and they did not detain anybody, but it was slow.A blue-uniformed [Israeli] police officer approached us and engaged us in a friendly discussion.He explained that the police force is overloaded with work because now the Palestinian Authority no longer deals with traffic regulation, as had been the case previously. He occasionally gave one of the passing taxis a ticket, for some traffic violation--for instance, in one of the vans it turned out they were transporting a cow. (This, apparently is a violation of some traffic law.)We pleaded on behalf of the people and succeeded in convincing them to leave the people alone and let them pass.Another car was told to get a tasrikh in Maale Adumim and the driver replied that the DCO [civil administration] office there is closed --which was something that I could confirm, due to my reading MachsomWatch reports. They let him pass.This policeman asked us if we are not afraid to wander among the Palestinians, and we said that we are well-treated and appreciated.He expressed envy and said that he would love to visit this place without the uniform.The drivers were friendly and expressed the usual complaints. On the way home we did pass through the Maale Adumim checkpoint. Traffic was slowed down and there was a long wait for all traffic.Apparently, Palestinians vehicles are meant to pull over to the side by the checkpoint for inspection (the others are not) but when we passed there, there no Palestinian vehicles.