Abu Dis, Ras Abu Sbitan (Olive Terminal), Thu 24.1.08, Morning
There are about twenty people waiting outside the external carousel. Within a few minutes the line disappears. According to one of the people going through, the three sleeves are open (today we can no more see through, into the checkpoint and watch what happens there). Average passage time – 10-15 minutes.
06:30 Boaba (the pishpash)
The checkpoint was empty. As we arrived we parked our car as usual before the sign that ways that the entrance to the checkpoint and the passage is for security forces vehicles only. The soldier shouted at us rudely no to park there. We explained to him that there is no sign forbidding the parking there, and that we get off the car and return immediately. We heard him tell another soldier to call a policeman. We ignored that, stayed a short while in the place, and returned to the car without another interaction.
We noticed that the car is smoking. We stopped aside, and ordered a Shagrir (service company) to toll the car, and they came within half an hour (we were lucky to get stuck in a place with street signs). The tolling driver told us that by principle they do not give service beyond the green line, but there are exceptions and fluid policy (and so the driver told us that he went to get out a stuck car in the settlement of Alon More, but the settler did not agree to drive with him because he is an Arab, and asked to talk with the boss. The boss told him that if he does not come with the driver he is not worth being a client, and the driver returned immediately to Jerusalem without the car).
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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Ras Abu Sbitan (Olive Terminal)
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A large checkpoint/crossing to the area of a-Tur, Abu Dis and the Old City; only for pedestrians. Located on Jerusalem’s municipal boundary.
One of the major crossings in Jerusalem’s central sector. It is located on the separation fence between the northern portion of the al-Ezariya neighborhood and the neighborhood of a-Tur and the rest of East Jerusalem. It is manned by Border Police soldiers and private security companies and operates 24 hours a day. Palestinians are forbidden to go through, other than permanent residents of East Jerusalem (holders of blue ID cards) and holders of work and commercial permits who are allowed through only on foot.
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