Abu Dis, Anata, Sawahre

Abu-Dis, Anata, SawahreSun. 9 January 2005 AMObservers: Ofra B., Silvia P., & Ruthi R. (reporting)06:30 to 11:00 Anata – Everything seemed quiet, the young people whom we asked about the elections said they would be voting in the evening, after work. On our way to the Ma’ale Adumim road, we saw three soldiers climbing towards the army base on the hill. Az-Za’ayyem – Soldiers were standing at the checkpoint and near the road too. Ma’ale Adumim checkpoint - We saw a quite large group of detained men. They said they had permits to work in Ma’ale Adumim and that they cross every day without problems. Today they were refused permission to cross; the Border Police soldier told them that their employer would have to come and collect them. “I’m fulfilling orders” said the Border Police soldier. A few minutes after Silvia phoned A.S., the battalion-commander, the same Border Police soldier let them through. “I was given a new order” he said.However, people working in Mishor Adumim had to keep waiting until someone would take them, and although quickly a van belonging to “Rami Levy” and another Transit van belonging to “Tzarfati Garage” drove up and collected the workers, the van-drivers shooting the breeze with the Border Police soldiers, in the meantime. The workers who were left continued waiting. One of them told us how much time he wastes at the checkpoint - sometimes he works less than three days a week, which of course affects his payslip. All the same, he makes a point not to lie, that is, he doesn’t say that he’s employed in Ma’ale Adumim, not Mishor Adumim – which would save him much time in getting to work. He doesn’t want his kids to learn to lie. Eventually, his employer’s car returned and took him as well. The road to Sawahre – The two checkpoints were open. It was very cold by the checkpoint, We were greeted by a police armoured car, with a sticker on the front reading “Hebron – Now and Forever”. The soldiers at the checkpoint explained that the sticker was there so that we and everyone would know that the armoured car belongs to the Hebron HQ.People weren’t crossing through, but cars passed through without delays. Haim from the District Coordination Office told us that “everything’s the same” for people with permits, there is no difference from an ordinary day, he emphasized. The street was quite empty, probably because of the general holiday. On our way to Abu Dis, we saw armed soldiers in the university on Mount Scopus, a sight we’ve never seen before. At A-Tour, near the post office, there was a small crowd of voters, young men organizing the traffic and helping people to cross the road. Abu Dis - In Abu Dis itself there were more Border Police soldiers (including high-ranking officers), overseas volunteers, MachsomWatch women and media people – than there were local people. Several young people standing around said they wouldn’t be voting because “Israel and the USA anyway decide who’ll be president”, even though they wouldn’t vote for anyone else. We had a serious, interesting talk with police superintendent A.M., commander of the Abu Dis area. He stood there for a long time, talking to people in the street in a civilized way: he told us about the complexity of their task, and that he doesn’t disregard the other side. He said he had asked several times for women from the organization to come and talk to his soldiers.