Seikh Saed, Abu-Dis, The Container Monday, 17.07.2006, AMObservers:Maya B., Anat T. (reporting)Sheikh Saed: 06:45 – Approximately 20 men of working age crowd up the hill. Neither detained, nor crossing. A military-police officer, who introduces himself as the deputy commander of the new battlaion at the checkpoint, comes up to us and shakes our hands; a pleasant man who takes the time to explain to the men who are forbidden to cross. At the same time, a well-publicized drama takes place, of the explosion of a stun grenade near a home, a grenade which doesn’t explode. Considering all the precautionary measures (the crew which arrives to disperse the people, including ourselves from the hill) one might conclude that these gremades never come close to persons.The elderly women with the heavy baskets on their heads, trying to sneak through to get their produce to market, are sent down into the wadi then up again… heart-rending to see their efforts and determination in view of the absolute refusal, for days now, to let them cross. According to Shaul Arieli from the Council for Peace and Security, at the enlightening tour in which we participated on Wednesday, 19.7, the disconnection and separation of metropolitan East Jerusalem from the surrounding villages which provide its produce, work-power and customers, is an extremely critical problem. The women forbidden to cross and sell their wares represent the changeing order Israel is trying to enforce in East Jerusalem.Abu-Dis: 07:45 – At the Pishpash, only those appearing on a list of residents of the near-by homes are allowed to cross. During our stay, several persons arrive and are diverted to the Zeitim CP. They obey. The lower gate is blocked. Presence of boder police there and on the road along the wall. The wall in the guise of a “garden fence” is progressing. According to Shaul Arieli, holders of blue ID’s from Al-Ezariya are migrating into Israel, even as far as Jaffa, their place taken by poor villagers from the periphery. In other words, the fence is pulling in Palestinians from the peripheries, contrary to the declared purpose to reduce the Palestinian population included in the Jerusalem area – all this in addition to the collapse of the metropolitan structure in East Jerusalem.The Container: 8:30 – Mostly taxis and lorries are to be seen in The Container. No pressure of traffic. For the last fortnight, roughly, Palestinian holders of blue ID’s are forbiddent to cross into the Palestinian area on the pretext that their security cannot be guaranteed.Zeitim CP – We observed the crossing from a distance. It appeared fairly empty.