Abu Dis, Container (Wadi Nar), Ras Abu Sbitan (Olive Terminal), Sheikh Saed, Wed 30.7.08, Morning

7:00 Zeitim Crossing

Several buses from East Jerusalem routes await those crossing on the Israeli side.  Relatively few cross, and according to one of them, it takes about 5 minutes.

7:20 Wadi Nar

The checkpoint is almost empty, and the sparse traffic flows without delays.  An older soldier approaches us, and from talk with him we learn that he's a volunteer reservist ( past the age of required reserve duty), and that this is his first shift at the checkpoint.  He belongs to a unit of volunteers attached to the border police. Their duty is to aid and ease the work of the regular border policemen.  He says that today the computers had crashed, and taking all the documents for checks, at least on this day, was just intended to display "presence" (which is to say that during our stay no vehicles were delayed and no documents confiscated).  He also said he tries to calm the regular soldiers at the c.p., and scolds them when they speak rudely to those crossing. 

8:20 Sheikh Sa'ad

Sparse and flowing traffic -- the checkpoint appears calm and quiet.