Abu-Dis, The Container Tuesday, 23.05.2006 PMObservers: Julia W., Rahel W. (reporting)We went straight to The Pishpash where we were to meet our driver. The border police there said that they would let us in, but we would not be allowed to return into Jerusalem. From now on, we had to go by way of Az-Za’ayyem.We drove to the new terminal at Az-Za’ayyem and met our driver there. On the way, we noticed that almost all the stores were closed. He said the reason was that people simply had no money to buy. His mother, who is an assistant in a kindergarden has not been paid for two months. The same with his sister who is a nurse in A-Tur. (We also noticed later at a green grocer who usually carried excellent produce that the goods were of very low quality – the kind of thing that would be thrown away here. People have no money).The Containr – When we arrived – there was a long line heading south arrived. As usual, as soon as we approached, the traffic started moving quickly, and with scarcely any inspections. The commander of the checkpoint came over to us and said that he had heard about machsomwatch women, but this was his first encounter with them. He said that he was told that we are “not fair”. I told him that we write about what we see. If the checkpoints operate efficiently and courteously, we write about it. When the soldiers and BP’s are cruel, inefficient, and rude, we report that as well.I asked him why there was such a backup of traffic, and he said that minutes before, it had been clear but they all came at once. There was a considerable amount of traffic – non stop – of vehicles and some workers returning as well. Very few cars were stopped and none turned back.After our shift, we returned to Az-Za’ayyem terminal where a bored, nasty woman soldier simply said we were not allowed through. We told her that we were specifically told at the Pishpash that we were to come here, but she did not even bother with a response.We tried to call E. but there was no answer and we left a message for him saying what happened and asked him to call back. We then called Yehudit Elkanah who gave us two numbers to call, but there was no answer there either. Suddenly, two soldiers appeared with a key and unlocked the heavy gate which leads onto the parking lot. We have no idea who called them to come (they were obviously apprised of the situation or they would not have had the key with them). Next time, we are going to go through the Pishpash and see if, indeed, we cannot be allowed back into Jerusalem or if that was just a story that was being told.