Shekh Saed Wednesday, 07.06.2006, AM (05:45-8:00)Observers: Hana B., Neta A. and Tamar A. (reporting)Shekh Saed – beware! They are shooting here!Arriving, we saw one BP soldier standing at the blockade that separates Shekh Saed from Jerusalem. He checked whoever wanted to cross and argued with a woman who refused to accept his verdict forbidding her to cross. A second soldier stood next to the road that leads to Jabel Mukaber and a third was observing the slope near the blockade where people were trying to cross without being checked. He is particularly aggressive. He shouted to the people approaching the blockade for checking: “Everyone up, forward!” Then he observe someone trying to trying to cross through the slope, he draws his gun and gets ready to shoot and step downwards. But the man managed to escape, he ran along the road attempting to catch him.After having failed, he returns to his post and argues with an aged woman who carries a large bag on her head and tries to bypass him. He first shouts at her: “rouhi, tarji…haji, halam”, then he forces her to return while marching after her and shouting: “rouhi al beit”. In the meantime he shouts at someone who tried to cross downstairs to beat it. Finally he asks a son of a woman who carries many bags, who barely convinced him to allow her to pass, that he takes the large bag of the first woman back to the village. But she wants to cross. In the meantime she moves backwards and after a long time she succeeded to pass.The BP soldier is watching again the slope. He shouts twice that whoever is there should go away and draws his gun. A second soldier tries to warn him from my camera. He later continues to shout.Downstairs on a dirt road, limps a man who can barely move and a woman tries to hide behind a house so that the soldiers will not notice her. Later, 2 soldiers take a position downstairs to prevent people from crossing there.No one with no blue ID are not allowed to pass, even if he has a pass (“tasrih”). Such people are sent to Zeitim CP in Abu-Dis, kilometers away. This involves going down the wadi and climbing up again. It is not evident if there is a road there. The inhabitants say that there is none. One of them ask the soldier: “Have you seen the road?”.In the February 2004 report of “Betzelem” that the only possibility “is to cross the wadi by foot to Sawahre-e-Sharkia and from there by public transport to the checkpoint. This is not an option for the elders, the sick, pregnant women and for young children or otherwise for the not physically fit”.A group of people are waiting across the blockade in the hope that they awill be allowed to pass. Aged women loaded with bags are constantly arguing with the soldiers that they should understand that basic humanity dictates that they should be allowed to pass. A teacher tells us that a verbal permission has been obtained yesterday to allow the students to make their matriculation examinations. But now, they are not allowed to pass. Only the young students pass until another teacher comes with a list of those to be examined and they are allowed to pass. Those allowed to bass have still to get across barbed wire that fences the large rocks the block the road to vehicles. Even a healthy person has to beware from being wounded or his wears to be torn. A man with crutches has great difficulties and a handicapped child – probably with muscular dystrophy – is lifted by his mother. A man with a donkey passes him carefully. When the bags on the donkey’s back are checked, the unruly animal tries to continue walking.Towards 07:00, the soldiers have moved away the people from the blockade and they stand next to the outskirts of the neighborhood. Suddenly they shoot gas and throw a shock grenade. Thereafter they shoot again towards the road behind the house road. This is their way to signal to people to take a greater distance.Five women with heavy bags, who were not allowed to pass, are sitting in the shadow of a house, tens of meters away from the blockade. Even this is not far enough. The soldiers chase them shouting “wahad, tnin”. A quarter hour later they shoot again. Ten minutes later, they ask us to move away and the soldiers themselves withdraw – now the gas reaches us and them as well, burning the throats. Hana is making phone calls all the time, warning against the unrestrained behavior of the soldiers and the gas. She is answered that the soldiers are apparently threatened and have to defend themselves. Finally, we see the soldiers drawing their guns again, poiting them upwards to the sky. It seems also as an attempt to scare the people. A short old woman is determined to pass the soldiers. She simply continues to walk. They are much taller than her and try to stop her with their bodies. But she continues and they don’t dare touching her.One of the inhabitants that all those trying to pass live in Shekh Saed. Until yesterday, many people came from other places and the fact that they are not here today may indicate that there is another blockade on the Eastern slopes of Shekh Saed.We left the place with hard feelings and fear of what may develop here later in the day.