Abu-Dis, Kedmat Zion, Pishpash, Mishor Adumim, Sawahre,Sunday, 18/07/2004, AMObservers: Barbara S., Ilana D. (reporting), Visitors: Gila S., Sally G.6:30 am. The area by the gas station and around the hotel is deserted. We spotted a border policeman on the roof of the hotel and drove adjacent to the wall to show our visitors the Jewish settlement of Kedmat Zion.7:00 am. At the Pishpash gate a border police jeep honked loudly to make sure that any inhabitants still asleep on this Sunday morning would wake up and any Palestinian without a blue I.D. card would keep their distance. There were no detainees. A few people ran through the courtyard of the monastery. A large crowd waited on the eastern side but didn’t dare to pass. Ten women carrying heavy packages sat on the ground by the gate and waited. One tried to pass the soldiers but she returned and the others decided to come back and climb. We left in order to see the passage through the monastery and the unfinished part of the wall. The jeep left noisily to switch the night watch at the hotel, and many people passed towards Jerusalem without being checked.We drove through A-Tur to the checkpoint of Mishor Adumim. A long line of cars waited more than an hour. There were no detainees. The soldiers were pleasant and allowed us to come near. One informed someone over the phone that the women from the “Machsom organization” had arrived. Some of the cars were immediately given permission to cross, while others had to hand over I.D. cards for examination. The numbers were written but not passed on to headquarters, and they didn’t wait long.We continued to the exit from Al Ezariya; the queue there for cars from Betlehem\ Abu-Dis was also long (almost an hour and a half), but the check was fast and effective. One young man who was detained, complained that he had been waiting for 40 minutes but his documents were returned just then. He thanked us.The number of parked vehicles is increasing every week. People who want to avoid the queue, park their car, walk on foot to the beginning of the queue and take a taxi.The construction of the road by-passing Al Ezariya to Keidar is progressing rapidly. At South-Keidar ( which we simply wanted to show to our visitors) a soldier from the Nachal paratroopers let us enter and walk around the abandoned settlement. He and two of his comrades guard the place 24 hours a day(?). We reached the Container checkpoint from behind through a way which was new even to Barbara. The taxi drivers always asked about her so I was happy to inform them of her arrival. A water pipe with 10 faucets was placed beside the checkpoint but was not connected to a water tank. Two taxis waited to receive their papers. The numbers were registered by a female soldier and the first to leave waited only 10 minutes. The second waited an hour. It appears that their numbers were passed on to the GSSO but they were also allowed to pass and thanked us. The atmosphere at the checkpoint was calm and we were allowed to come close. Most of the vehicles passed in either direction without being checked. When the soldiers had a coffee break and no-one was at the junction, the traffic flowed as if there was no checkpoint. The engineer responsible for the planning of the terminal arrived with some papers, but other than a bulldozer parked without a driver on hand, there was no sign of further construction.On our way back, we drove on the eastern side of the wall opposite the gas station just to show the visitors, and we noticed that all the graffiti that had been whitewashed over a while ago had been redone and again covered the surface of the wall. We dropped off our visitors and continued towards the DCO in Maale-Adumim. The soldier in the watchtower closes the revolving door after each person enters. Only one window of the DCO was manned. Twenty people, among them a number of women with children, awaited their fate – mainly passage forbidden or refused.People wait for months for a magnetic card and are told repeatedly: “Come back next week.” I hadn’t seen R.s’ car but I also hadn’t called to make an appointment so we didn’t try to enter. A sparkling new faucet has been installed outside the waiting area in the sun, but the water from the black pipe lying on the muddy ground is presumably colder so people continue to drink from it.