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Abu Dis, Container (Wadi Nar), Ras Abu Sbitan (Olive Terminal), Thu 24.4.08, Morning

Place: Abu Dis / Lazarus gate (formerly The Wicket) Container (Wadi Nar) Ras Abu Sbitan (Olive Terminal)
Tags: Flying Checkpoints
Observers: Yael Y., Michaela R., Shira W. (reporting)
Apr-24-2008
| Morning

06:50 Sheikh SAed

Children go through without being checked. Grown-ups are being checked one by one. Change of shifts a little before  07:00, a mixed group of BP men and Private civil guards.

 
07:20 a flying checkpoint on the exit from Sawaharra -El-Sharkiye towards the American road.

At the exit from the checkpoint, at the junction with the American road there are 3 BP men (without a Jeep). They stood and checked every vehicle that arrived from the checkpoint. The soldiers checked ID cards of the passengers of the cars and wrote them down. The waiting time there was about 3 minutes. Pedestrians were checked too. A pedestrian boy was not allowed to go through, and was sent back towards Sawaharra-El-Sharkiye. We understood from what we could see was going on between him and the BP men was that the reason was that he had no ID with him.

 
07:50 the pishpash

The checkpoint was completely empty. A temporary narrow passage way was built there for pedestrians, between movabels low iron bars.

 
08:00 Zeitim passage

A thin flowing movement of passengers.

 
08:25 Wadi Nar

We saw a long line of vehicles coming from the south as we aopproached the place. When we arrived the traffic jam was released a little, and then they stopped the traffic again.

 
We measured about 5 minutes of waitin. Vans were detained every once in a while on the side of the road. One of the soldiers approached us of his own initiative. He presented himself as the commander of the checkpoint, and "refreshed" our regulation while staying at the checkpoint. Among other regulation he asked that if we take pictures, we should not photograph the faces of the soldirs, and that we do not stand in the area of the chekcpoint. When we asked why the traffic was stopped he answered that there is some worse conditions. A., the representative of the DCO who came to talk with us said, in contrast, that everything is as usual. A few minutes later they approved of renewal of traffic, and the traffic jam disappeared. The vans were stopped for 15-20 minutes, and all the IDs were returned together.

  • 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.

  • Container (Wadi Nar)

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    •  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)

       

  • 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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