Abu Dis, Container Wednesday PM, 26.01.05Observers: Yael R., Noa R., Ayelet F., Tirtza F. (reporting)14:50-17:3014:50The passage through the monastery at Abu Dis is open. No soldiers or waiting vans are seen.14:55on the way to Cliff Hotel we see heavy vehicles- a press, a bulldozer and some trucks. We go up the road on foot. The new gate lately installed on the road is open. 4 trucks are standing in line. The Hotel is surrounded by a metal fence with a locked gate. 2 soldiers on the roof.4 BP jeeps arrive from the direction of Al Kuds University and get stuck in front of the Hotel. They can’t pass in the small gap between the fence and the trucks. The trucks go away, and meanwhile a young English speaking civilian, maybe a tourist or a peace activist, gets off the first jeep and is transferred into the last, which then moves into the lot in front of the Hotel.Another jeep arrives from the direction of the Grocery store. Avi Biton the company commander descends and greets us. We ask whether they are paving a new road. “Yes”, he says, “It will benefit the local population as well, the kumbel family. They get it for free”. What about the fence around the Hotel? “Because of stone-throwing incidents. It is still a private property”. What about the civilian in the jeep? “I didn’t see, haven’t noticed him” says Biton.On the way back down we see the jeep driving away.15:40On the entrance to Al Ezariya blue police is checking vehicles.15:50 ContainerWe find Lieutenant Zidki from the new Jerusalem DCO which is responsible from now on of the container instead of the Ezion DCO. He greets us too, offers to call him with any problem and gives us his cellphone number. We ask why private cars need permits to pass here. “For security reasons”, he says. We ask whether he might help in case someone gets detained for a long time. “I’m not sure. We can’t help in everything, but call us”.There’s a huge line on the southern lane. Why? “Security check ups”, says A., the DCO representative. The soldiers stop and check every taxi, ask for all of the passenger’s IDs, make jokes between themselves and take the time it takes the palestinians to get their IDs out.The dog handlers finish to check a van. Sami, who lives in Sawahre beyond the checkpoint, stops by us and tells us about the routine of the apartheid road. Whenever someone needs to pass by it he calls whoever he can for help, “but it’s a mess”. Some soldiers understand and let him pass.16:10A van heading south is detained, a soldier takes everyone’s ID. They wait in the vehicle and descend to the soldier writing their details down one by one. The van is released within 30 minutes.16:20A van arrives from the forbidden road. 2 soldiers hurry towards it. 2 palestinians descend and walk towards Sawahre. The driver is Israeli. The soldiers threat him with a report, probably for driving palestinians on the road forbidden to them. He says he knows all the tricks, after being a policeman for 22 years, and where there’s no sign he can do as he likes. The soldiers let him go and before he goes away he calls to us “Girls, don’t bother the BP, they are doing important work”.16:35A taxi stops on the way south. A young man is taken off and led by the soldier to the door of the building next to the detainees shed. The soldier gives him a physical check up, no ID check up, and releases him.A bus stops at the checkpoint, the soldier requires IDs, the passengers show their passports and the soldier speaks with the driver, insisting on seeing IDs. He gets on the bus which contains mainly women in modest clothing. After a short check up they are released.16:50A BP jeep comes from Sawahre. The driver informs the soldiers that there’s a huge traffic jam over there.The line is still huge, its end is invisible. 2 soldiers are checking the cars simultaneously. They stop every vehicle and ask for ID. When the pedestrian lane is emptied a third soldier joins them.16:51 -A man is taken off a taxi going south, led to the detainees shed and released within 15 minutes.16:57A van is coming from the forbidden road. The soldier and the DCO representative tell him to go back.The line is still huge. A driver tells us he’s been waiting for 2 hours.The soldiers are still telling jokes. A. stands on the road in front of a van like he’s trying to catch a ride and asks “going to Tel Aviv?”. The passengers look at him embarrassed.