Abu Dis, Container (Wadi Nar), Sheikh Saed, Wed 17.12.08, Morning
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6:45 Sheikh Saed
The dip in the road which used to be an unpassable pool of water two weeks ago has been covered with an asphalt bump. We don't know whether this is due to our efforts in the municipality, but this is a good thing
There are almost no passengers at the crossing. The checkpoint commander is hostile towards us. A meeting with Mas'ud Mashara whose home is below the checkpoint, and the gate to it locked. The officer, M., promised to check the matter again, but is evading. The sight of unemployed and aimless young men at the top of the hill is depressing and worrisome. It will be several years before they can apply for a work permit in Jerusalem. What will they do till then?
7:30 The climb to Ras Al-Amud
A grey and scary zeppelin hovers over the slopes of the Kidron on the ascent from the American road to Ras Al-Amud (ahead of the settlement opposite the police station). Netta thinks it's Shabak (General Security Services), Anat thinks of hovering in a zeppelin in English skies. We go down to check what is gong on behind an unknown fence with a sign saying: "a school for the girls of East Jerusalem will be built here." Behind the gate extensive archaeological digs are in progress. It appears that the Antiquities Authority has discovered a Canaanite site from the bronze age (3000 B.C.). The zepplin is filming the site from above for purposes of documentation. We suggest that the appearance of the zeppelin should have been publicized in the neighbourhood beforehand — it must be a very alarming sight to many people. The inspector from the Antiquities Authority says the construction of the school will not suffer — in another day or two the finds will be removed, and they will leave the site. The workers report additional such salvage digs performed in the West Bank.
Construction on the Moskovitz settlement site opposite the police station continues apace — cranes and bulldozers.
8:15 Wadi Nar Delays on the route heading to the West Bank. Every vehicle and its contents, except for transits, is checked. The line increases, then diminishes upon our arrival (because of our arrival?) A few taxis on the way to Al Ezariya are also detained, but then released more expeditiously than we ahve usually observed in the past. 9:10 Sheikh Jarakh
Two pup-tents on the earth of the empty plot which has been "turned". No vehicular access, barely accessible to pedestrians. Um-Kamal, the evicted widow, is not there — she has gone to the opthalmologist. Those neighbours present tell us that yesterday police and army forces came together with municipality inspectors and destroyed the two big tents, expropriated the small generator, and ploughed up the land to hinder pedestrian access and the setting up of tents. The neighbours are residents of the UN housing units constructed in 1956 for refugees who opted to give up their refugee status, but registration in the Land Registry Office was delayed. They tell a tale of interminable legal proceedings and injustices in Israeli courts, and add that the eviction of Um-Kamal and another family is also due to negligent treatment of their appeal to the High Court. At present they are represented by a distinguished Israeli Arab lawyer, and all the neighbours (27 families) are awaiting the results.
The story does not end. It's painful to hear the harsh words about our legal system which we Israelis consider a beacon of democracy and civil indiscrimination.
Netta takes a few pictures, but it's not easy to follow the ins and outs of the legal discussions, past and present. What is clear is that massive support and sympathy for this just and non-violent protest is imperative.
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Abu Dis / Lazarus gate (formerly The Wicket)
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Abu Dis / Lazarus Checkpoint/Gate (east of the former “wicket”)
Construction of the wall in the Abu Dis area blocked all the gaps that allowed people to cross from al-Ezariya to the neighbourhoods of Abu Dis and Ras al 'Amud that are located within Jerusalem’s municipal boundary. The Lazarus checkpoint is a gate in the wall adjacent to the Lazarus Monastery. Until 2011 it had a door for pilgrims to al-Ezariya and for the monastery’s kindergarten pupils from al-Ezariya. The crossing is currently closed, but the site has infrastructure for conducting inspections.
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Container (Wadi Nar)
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Wadi Nar Checkpoint ("Container", "The Kiosk") - a barrier for vehicles in Area B that is regularly manned - east of Abu Dis between Sawahra A Sharqiya and Bethlehem and its daughters. Controls Palestinian movement between the north and south West-Bank. Includes driving routes, access roads, spikes, traffic lights and signs. There is no pedestrian crossing. Open 24 hours a day with random checks enhanced on security alerts. The checkpoint is in Palestinian territory, allowing for separation between the north and the south Palestinian areas when necessary.
In 2015, the leading road from Azaria to Bethlehem was renovated, as well as the steep and narrow ascent to the Wadi Nar checkpoint, which was dangerously travelled in both directions! The temporary checkpoint was renovated and expanded, and pedestrian traffic was banned. From 2016, traffic travelling from the south bank to Azaria was directed to a one-way road near the Southern Keydar Jewish settlement.
Machsomwatch shifts visit this far-fetched checkpoint only occasionally.
(updated to July 2019)
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Sheikh Sa'ed
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A checkpoint limited to pedestrians, located on Jerusalem’s municipal boundary.
The checkpoint sits on the separation fence at the entrance to Sheikh Sa’ad, dividing it from its neighbourhood of Jabel Mukkabar. It’s manned by Border Police soldiers and private security companies and operates 24 hours a day. Palestinians are forbidden to go through, other than residents of Jabel Mukkabar or Sheikh Sa'ad who have permits. Both groups are permitted through only on foot. Residents of East Jerusalem who don’t live in Jabel Mukkabar are also allowed to cross to Sheikh Sa’ad, but not in the opposite direction; they must return through the Sawahira ash Sharqiya checkpoint.
Tamar FleishmanAug-31-2026Kfar Aqab (Jerusalem). Signs on the fence at the UNRWA compound
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