AM

Abu-Dis, Container (Sawahre) 26.1.2004 Watchers: Judy O., Mira M., Rachel , Talia A.S. (reporting) The Gas Station is deserted. The work on this section of the wall is done for now and the path to the Hotel is cleared. We go up to inspect the wall in all its length, passing the junk pile of the old concrete boards. There’s no one around.On the other direction, at the pishpash gate [roadside unofficial passage]: taxis, buses and many pedestrians passing. Two BPs are standing by and do not interfere. Another two we meet near Beit Fadj.We drive to "The Container" [Sawahre checkpoint]. On the way from Maale Adumim we see the rolling [unscheduled] CP with two taxis waiting. We do not stop.7:30, Sawahre Checkpoint: A very cold morning. A few detainees; as we arrive, they are all released. One of them tells us: “You should have come earlier, we have been waiting for 45 min, and it's very cold." Dimitri is in charge of the CP. Traffic to Bethlehem is sparse, with almost no waiting. In the opposite direction there is a queue, but the checking proceeds at a normal pace. As usual, private cars are turned back, the rest are partially checked, occasionally people are taken out and detained for ID checking.Chana Arnon calls about some buses coming from Bethlehem with family visits to the Ofer (Offek?) Camp. They arrive just as we speak to Dimitri and are allowed in with no problem.As it’s painfully cold, we try to speed things up for the detainees - but it doesn’t help much. Some of them wait 45 min., some less. At 9:30, when they are all released, we leave. As we're leave, some more detainees are gathered… and so on…