'Anata-Shu'afat, Al-Ezariya, Container (Wadi Nar)

Anata

We went first to Anata where things were exceptionally quiet, due, we suppose, to Ramadan and the extreme heat. 

We then went to Al Ezariya where we met with a man who used to  drive us around Abu Dis and the environs.  We were very keen to earn about what was happening in the Abu Dis El Azariya, Suwahra 

First:  Regarding the large area en route to Wadi Nar from which Bedouin were removed and in which there was considerable preliminary construction work (but which is now quite quiet), we were told that there was going to be construction there – perhaps of a new settlement—but the whole issue is now tied up in the courts.  Sami was not all that sure of the situation, so we would have to get further clarification.  The meanwhile, the Bedouin are still confined to their narrow strip of land.

Wadi Nar was almost deserted and all the shops in the area were closed.  Sami said that problems at Wadi Nar were rare and that there was a general acknowledgement that that’s the way things would be for a long time to come.

There is considerable construction going on everyplace in the entire area.  Many new, multi story, beautifully designed buildings have been completed.  Our former driver told us that most of the money comes from outside the country because there is tremendous unemployment in the villages and the locals have few resources.

On our return, we passed by the one remaining checkpoint to Issawiya – the one leading to Mount Scopus.  That too was very quiet in the heat of the day.