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Abu Dis, Container (Wadi Nar), Sheikh Saed, Thu 29.11.07, Afternoon

Tags: Detainees
Observers: Daphna S., Debora G. (reporting)
Nov-29-2007
| Afternoon

 14:45 Sheikh Saed

As usual, lately, at this hour, there are almost no people coming and going. Here and there a woman drags along and goes through, a girl gets off a school bus. "Tranquil water" indeed. We also noticed the fact that a grocery store was opened above the checkpoint.

15:15 Abu Dis
By the checkpoint (near the monastery) people who go through immediately  crowd. A tour bus parks before the sign forbidding vehicles from approaching the checkpoint.
16:00 Wadi Naar (the container)
There are many sodliers in the place, and they check almost every second car. Documents are taken from the workers who go through the revolving door and are checked. It takes time and the workers are detained until their documents are returned.

One taxi is detained, and one passenger was taken out for a long checkup.
From time to time we made a comment to the soldiers, about the long lines of cars, the workers who were waiting by the revolving door, and they released them all.

Three quarters of an hour later everything was flowing, and the workers went through without being checked.
  • 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)

       

  • Sheikh Sa'ed

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    • A checkpoint limited to pedestrians, located on Jerusalem’s municipal boundary.

      The checkpoint sits on the separation fence at the entrance to Sheikh Sa’ad, dividing it from its neighbourhood of Jabel Mukkabar. It’s manned by Border Police soldiers and private security companies and operates 24 hours a day. Palestinians are forbidden to go through, other than residents of Jabel Mukkabar or Sheikh Sa'ad who have permits. Both groups are permitted through only on foot. Residents of East Jerusalem who don’t live in Jabel Mukkabar are also allowed to cross to Sheikh Sa’ad, but not in the opposite direction; they must return through the Sawahira ash Sharqiya checkpoint.

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