Abu Dis, Container (Wadi Nar), Thu 3.7.08, Afternoon

Place: Abu Dis / Lazarus gate (formerly The Wicket) Container (Wadi Nar)

Tags: Detainees

Observers: Debora G., Daphna S. (reporting)

Jul-03-2008

| Afternoon

Wadi Nar 15:00

As we arrive there are 8 detained vans. In one of them, as we saw later, there are guests from Jordan. Everyone is inside the cars.

A very nervous soldier runs about.There is nothing left of the former checkpoint. The soliders are documents, and it takes time until those are brought for checkup inside the shed standing aside. About ten minutes after we arrive some of the coduments are returned, and of course, the people have to find out to whom every document belongs, and this includes the pedestrian detainees who stand down the road and have to run uphill in order to get their document.

There is an older woman who approaches the soldiers. There is no reaction to her requests, and she asked us to approach, and we did approach and ansk what happens. We got the usual answers: one can not approach her, maybe she will blow up. Strange, we thought, so why did you let her get near at the first place.

We were driven away. What kind of Jews are you, after the terrorit attack in Jerusalem. The commander of the checkpoint emerged, actually shouting at his soldiers: don't answer them. He approached us and started lecturing, but caught himself and said that those are the regulations, and we should not interfere with the work done.

One of the Jordanian passengers took pictures of the donkey standing by the grocery store. We suggest that she does not do it. An officer and one of the soldiers approach her. She shows them the pictures. It is good that now the cameras are digital. They are allowed to keep driving. Everyone is very nervous today.

We left when we saw that there are no more detainees or cars waiting for a permit to drive.

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)

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Abu Dis / Lazarus gate (formerly The Wicket)

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