Abu Dis Monday 1 August 2005 PMObservers: Judy O., Liat D., & Noa A.Y. (reporting) 15:20 – Abu Dis – along the wall – the hotel – the settlement – up to the opening in the wall – everything was quiet. At the top of the Street, the narrow crossing between the bars of the gate – ‘the anorexics crossing’ as somebody called it – three Border Police soldiers, with two detainees sitting in the shade. After a while a police jeep arrived, and another three detainees joined them. The minutes later – another jeep. The guys swapped stories, and checked IDs every now and then. Half an hour later the three original detainees were left, they filled out forms for one of the detainees, then released the other two. Back to the gate. Still closed – we wondered why, until when – after the disengagement? after the holidays? Higher up, by the former pishpash gate, there was no movement at all, the monastery yard was almost empty, and there were no soldiers around.16:30 – the Container – there were no cars at the checkpoint. On the other hand, there was a line of cars by the yellow checkpoint, close to the grocery. The path that used to link up to the old road saved a lot of time. They haven’t opened it yet. There was one detainee – at 10 in the morning he and his family tried to cross with their car. The car had no permit, and it was parked by the grocery. The military police soldier took the identity card of the car’s owner and said he should come and take it in another hour. The man came back a little later, but the soldier with the identity card, was no longer there. The officer we had spoken to said that that they found the permit in Beit Jallah in the crossings unit of the military police, and said it was being taken care of. He knew it was illegal, but maintained that he couldn’t file a complaint. An hour later – we asked Anton, the DCO representative, whether he knew what had happened to the ID card – “I’m not talking to you” was his answer. At the military police, they said that the company commander had just set out with the ID.When we left at 17:30, we saw a military police jeep driving up to the checkpoint.