Abu Dis, Container (Wadi Nar), Sheikh Saed, Mon 31.12.07, Afternoon

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From 2:00 till 6:00 PM

We had an appointment with Gabriel a journalist from Uruguay and his photographer who were meeting with two people from Sheikh Saed a woman with a blue ID and a man with a green ID and had been told yesterday that they would be allowed to enter but not to exit. The Border Policeman in charge told us that he first had to call before he could let us in. It took a while, Adi is on leave, and M. arrived with a jeep and allowed us all up through both turnstiles.
 
The intricacies of the problems facing those inhabitants who have no permits were explained in great detail. The woman who teaches in Jebel Mukaber explained that it takes her about an hour and a half to get to work in the morning, because every permit is scrupulously checked. Thus she and the school children have to leave their homes at 06:30 and wait in line (rain and shine) before being able to exit and board their school bus. This includes some children with special needs and on crutches. The white scooter bike parked at the bottom serves as the local ambulance. It belongs to one of the inhabitants in possession of a blue ID who helps with the transportation of those unable to walk until they reach the ambulance, which is not allowed to enter. One man died after a heart attack while being resuscitated at the CP.
 

Very few people passed, mostly women, it was the middle of the day and we were eager to continue because of our guests. The two foreigners begged us to ask for permission for them to stay and visit their hosts in their homes and  permission was granted.

We drove up from Silwan towards  Dung Gate and continued past the Mount of Olives to Abu Dis, drove up to the hotel and saw the closed gate. A girl soldier thinking we were settlers politely offered her help and then realized who we were and disappeared. At the Pish-Pash we weresent off, it being " closed Military Zone" no one was crossing, we left via A-Tur to the Israeli side of the Olive Crossing, just to show the difference of the other side, before proceeding all the way around via M. Adumim, Al Ezariya and Abu Dis to the Palestinian neglected side which was not signposted.

There were very few people passing. We gazed at the clear signs of the DCL.
 
We continued via the route of the transits past the El Kuds University with its hundreds of students on the road along the wall and encountered a line of at least a hundred cars when we approached the Container CP. We were initially not allowed to turn left to park near the grocery store, but instructed to turn around, but then the Commander agreed. Checking by the Border Police with helmets and flak-jackets  was done rather randomly, but obviously too slowly for the line took more than twenty minutes  

We were told in no uncertain terms that we should move away and take cover "I know what I am talking about, you are under my responsibility as long as you are near the CP and there are alerts."   There was no way we could find out regarding the three men who had not been allowed back into their transit, but were not placed in the lock-up. The queue of the pedestrians (workers returning home) proceeded rather slowly too alongside the turnstiles and the magnometers which were probably out of order. Again we were told to move away and take cover behind our car and when we decided to   leave we were allowed to return via Qedar, because he would not 'dare' send us back the way we had come