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Abu Dis, Container (Wadi Nar), Ras Abu Sbitan (Olive Terminal), Thu 26.6.08, Morning

Tags: Detainees
Observers: Ora K., Yehudit S., Michaela R. (reporter), a guest - Charlotte (a journalist
Jun-26-2008
| Morning

 

 

 

06:00 Zeitim passage

Tens of people, most of them men, come flowing out of the checkpoint. As usual, their belts are in their hands, and some of them put their shoes on. A big crowd, and everything is going on in silence and in a matter of fact manner. A man who lives near Kalandia told us that he had left home at four o'clock in the morning, saw what happens in Kalandia checkpoint, and decided to take a taxi and go through this checkpoint, in order not to be late for work.

06:50
 Wadi Nar

From far away we saw detained vehicles, and almost no movement in the checkpoint. When we
proached the place a flow of cars started moving, and long lines were threading on both ways. A loud argument was going on between BP men and lorry drivers. From the building near the checkpoint a soldier emerged and annouced in a loud voice that whoever shouts, and he does not care who he will be "He will break his bones". We did not understand what the argument was about, But about ten minutes later the lorry went on its way.

 
The lane leading towards Beit Lehem is blocked by barbed wire, and the traffic to both directions is going through one lane. Everything is slow. People coming from Beit Lehem and wait to turn into Sawahara are met with traffic from the opposite direction. Big vehicles find it hard to manouvre, and dangerous situations are created.
About a quarter of an hour after we arrive the checkpoint is empty. The detainees are released too. 
All the sheds and checking stands are completely striped off, and there is only a metal skeleton.

 

A high rank officer (of the army) who is part of engineering walks around the checkpoint masterly. He refuses to explain to us what happens, but definitely shout at us not to take his picture.

 
In the middle of the road there is a plastic block, Jersy, and a poster is glued to it. There is written in Hebrew, written by hand:
Orders to the drivers:
Stand for checkup (search?)
Follow the Police orders.
Turn the lights off at night.
It is useless to say that one can not read the "Announcement" from where the drivers stand.
The two drivers who dared come forwards without being waved to were returned backwards, reversing, a long way.

08:15E1 police station
 

The fortified building starts to fill with life. Settlers come to arrange things, and so do Palestinians. All  along the road people are welcomed by signs that announce the new neighborhood "Mevaseret Adumim". It is not built yet.

We met a Palestinian who came to get his license after he had paid a fine.
There is no public transportation to this solitary place. Drivers whose license was taken away from them have to get help from friends or pay a lot for a cab, that will wait for them until they finish their business there.

  • 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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