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Abu Dis, Vadi Nar -Container ,Silwan, Sheikh Saed, Wed 4.5.11, Morning

Observers: Idit Shlezinger, Anat Tueg (reporting)
May-04-2011
| Morning

 

 
 
6:45  Sheikh Saed
 
The usual scene at the checkpoint: few persons, labourers, and schoolchildren crossing first, no line.
A chat with the young men waiting for passengers confirms that the road to Sawaharra and from there to Jerusalem is worse than it was.  Last week someone told us there's a clash of interests of owners of blue IDs and the owners of green ones.
 
7:30 Silwan
 
There's progress in the construction of side-walks and a parking lot down the road, apparently to enable the opening of two lanes with a small draining trough between them and no possibility of parking on the all too narrow road.  We saw no digs such as those we watched during the last year. Has the work of laying down communication cables, sewage pipes, and all the rest along Wadi Hilwah been completed?  In the meantime the road below the City of David is one-way in the direction of the Temple Mount, with occasional exceptions for security vehicles.
 
8:00 Wadi Nar
 
We saw the new concrete blocks reported by Michaela on the road from the old Kedar to the checkpoint, but there is still a narrow opening for our car to pass into the familiar "donkey country".  All the residents of the surrounding area who are unable to travel by car on the road from Ma'aleh Adumim approaching the checkpoint to Kedar tie their donkeys by the roadside.  We saw a cute baby donkey next to its mother.
 
When we arrived at the checkpoint we inquired about the new blockage and were told that Palestinian traffic would be redirected from the Wadi Nar checkpoint to the road leading from Kedar, but the soldiers didn't know how far. Our guess is that because there is now an excellent multi-laned road from Al-Azariah leading to the foothills where the checkpoint is situated, and from where the road to Bethlehem has also been much improved, and because at present the road from Al-Azariah is one-way, steep, and very dangerous, it has been decided to divert traffic flowing to Al-Azariah and from from there to the old route leading to the bedouin encampments. The road which converges in the wadi with the excellent paved road built by the Palestinian Authority with US Aid.  It doesn't look as though the Palestinians will be allowed to use the apartheid road to Kedar.
 
Incidentally, the checkpoint was entirely empty.  All five guards manning the c.p. allowed traffic to stream in both directions without any obstruction.  We were told that between this c.p. and the one at the entrance to Bthlehem there are no other checkpoints.  For the last year Jerusalem Arabs in possession of blue IDs are permitted to travel to Bethlehem unimpeded.
 
On the way back we entered Kedar and observed this large settlement spreading south-east.  On the construction site where new homes were being built throughout the late-lamented "freeze", the cars of Palestinian labourers are parked.  Two hilltops separate Kedar from Ma'aleh Adumim and, as is the custom in the land of settlements, a sister suburb begins to grow a stone's throw or two hilltops away, then the space in between is later filled with more homes.  This appears to be the case here, and that was what Akiva Eldar reported a year ago.  He said the settlers of Kedar were asking to be included in the local administration of the Ma'aleh Adumim zoning plans.
 
9:30 Az-Za'ayyem
 
By this hour the traffic jam to the tunnel leading into Jerusalem has dispersed.
 
10:00 Sheikh Jarrah
 
No demonstrators and the road is quiet.  We picked up Ocha maps  updated to June 2010.

  • 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.

      ירושלים, שער שכם: קהל ממהר לתפילה
      Avital C
      Feb-27-2026
      Jerusalem, Damascus Gate: Crowd rushing to prayer
  • Silwan

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    • Silwan is south of the Old City of Jerusalem and has become one of the main confrontation areas with settlers.

       

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