Abu Dis, Container (Wadi Nar), Mon 31.12.07, Morning

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06:30  we decide to look for alternative   places where BP and  Police   are checking  Palestinians who come to work in Jerusalem.  The  largest  group is usually at the junction of   Route No. 1,  Prophet  st.  and  the  parking lot of Nablus road.  We park the car and walk around, talking to  some of the workers  and asking them how long it took them to get to the point where they are being picked up by the employers  /contractors. 

Since every  institution  in Jerusalem  employs Palestinian  workers,  and not all of them live in Jerusalem,  this requires  a lot of workers,  who  all come in  early in the morning,  and for the most part  seem to have a document or a blue ID  that makes it possible.   In  the entire area we met two BPs  and two  blue police  cars with a few policemen,  who are mostly interested in traffic laws.

 

At 07:30  we drive to   Wadi Naar,  where there are  a few   Yellow  mini-buses being checked.  Thecheck is rapid  and no one seems perturbed by it any more.  Everyone seems resigned  to this procedure.  Most cars are not stopped at all.

 

A tractor   who  trying to get on the  road we came on , without  asking  "permission" from the sodiers, is being called back,  and told to wait , as a means of teaching him  the rules of the game  around here.  When we try to help, we are told  that he will have to wait,  till the soldiers decide he can pass.  The area  is  off limits for him even though  he claims he has been ploughing there for the last few days.  He appologizes to the soldiers and we hope will be let through if we move away.