Abu-Dis

There was a kleizmer festival in the Old City, so traffic along the
Old City walls was a mess. We spent more time getting there and
back than observing ...

Abi Dis: 2 laid back BPs explained that nobody is
supposed to cross the wall, but everybody does, which didn't seem
to bother them (it was done in front of them). They also explained
about the alternative route through Maale Adumim. Little was
happening, so we headed to Sawahre. We parked the car on the hotel
grounds, and walked through by the Parliament to the road, where we
took a transit.

Sawahre: Closure, curfew, total, unyielding. Only
Bethlehem people could go south, nobody coulf go north. Permits,
unless stamped between Oct. 7-10, were not honored. Residents of
Hebron, Halhul, etc., were kept on the Abu Dis side. A surgeon with
a humanitarian permit could not pass to Bethlehem hospital. A blue
ID holder was kept on the Bethlehem side. Trucks with produce,
outgoing, could not pass. Everybody we called confirmed that these
were the orders of the day. A captain came by, we spoke to him.
Patiently and politely he too explained that -- nothing doing. The
blue ID holder in the Bethlehem side was in violation of
instructions by being there. The student from Hebron was in
violation of the rules by being on the Abu Dis side (by the way,
the Palestinians confirmed his theory, as they had sidestepped CPs
earlier to get to where they were). He was explicit that this was
about punishment and signalling: If you want to be on some side,
don't move illegally to other side. If you do, you'll be stuck.
Those are the orders. We went back without one single achievement.
But the Palestinians still seemed grateful just to be heard and
blow off steam.