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Abu Dis, Container (Wadi Nar), Mon 7.6.10, Afternoon

Place: Abu Dis / Lazarus gate (formerly The Wicket) Container (Wadi Nar)
Observers: Dafna S., Dvora G. (reporting)
Jun-07-2010
| Afternoon

  15:00  Sheikh Jarrah (Shimon Hatzadik Street)


 
The family who lost everything are sitting outside their former home over which Israeli flags are flying.

Their sad story is well know, and the head of the family repeats it in enviable Hebrew.  Three days after they were informed that they must vacate the house within a week, policemen broke down the front door, entered and threw out all the furniture which disappeared after a short time.

They were left  in the street, where they have been sitting a few months.
We asked whether they had been offered alternative housing and the answer was "no."  They say the house was built for them as refugees, and they occupied it in 1956.

Why were they thrown out?  The answer is painful.
A group from the School of the Arts in Musrarra is here to document their story.  They promised to send us their finished product so that we can put it on the internet.

 
16:00  Wadi Nar

 

All kinds of vehicles, including those carrying many workmen, cross with almost no checking.
A resident of one of the nearby houses came up to us to complain that the checkpoint is locked, and they are not allowed to cross in their cars.
We asked the soldiers and were promised that all those who live here may cross if they put in a request.  We hope this will be the case.

  • Abu Dis / Lazarus gate (formerly The Wicket)

    See all reports for this place

    •  

      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.

  • Container (Wadi Nar)

    See all reports for this place
    •  Wadi Nar Checkpoint ("Container", "The Kiosk") - a barrier for vehicles in Area B that is regularly manned - east of Abu Dis between Sawahra A Sharqiya and Bethlehem and its daughters. Controls Palestinian movement between the north and south West-Bank. Includes driving routes, access roads, spikes, traffic lights and signs. There is no pedestrian crossing. Open 24 hours a day with random checks enhanced on security alerts. The checkpoint is in Palestinian territory, allowing for separation between the north and the south Palestinian areas when necessary.

      In 2015, the leading road from Azaria to Bethlehem was renovated, as well as the steep and narrow ascent to the Wadi Nar checkpoint, which was dangerously travelled in both directions! The temporary checkpoint was renovated and expanded, and pedestrian traffic was banned. From 2016, traffic travelling from the south bank to Azaria was directed to a one-way road near the Southern Keydar Jewish settlement.

      Machsomwatch shifts visit this far-fetched checkpoint only occasionally.

      (updated to July 2019)

       

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