Abu Dis, Container, Wednesday PM, 6.10.0414:15-17:15Observers: NR, AF, TF (reporting) 14:15 Bawabe Active traffic of pedestrians and taxis. No presence of police or military. concrete cubes are still blocking the entrance. 14:35 Cliff Hotel No soldiers, policemen or detainees in sight. No one disturbs the scarce traffic of people passing through the mound behind the Hotel. It seems that someone has compressed and flattened the road going from the Hotel along the Wall. 15:10 Container – Wadi Naar A large BP vehicle and more soldiers than usual. Probably change of shift. The checkpoint is completely blocked until everyone finishes greeting the others, disarming their gun and wearing their flak jackets. A long line going southwards, a shorter one towards Jerusalem. No detainees. When the shift change is over a policeman starts making gestures for everyone to pass without detaining anyone, while talking on his cellphone and walking to and fro. Now and then another soldier stops a taxi or a K.S.H ambulance, speaks to the driver through the car window and lets them go on. Outside the checkpoint, on the lane leading to the apartheid road to Kedar, there is a temporary barrier: 2 barrels with boards on top. One dropped to the ground, but it is obvious there is no passage through.15:42Two taxis are being detained. They stop after the checkpoint on the southern side. Three young looking pedestrian detainees are sent to the detention shelter.A bus stops and a soldier mounts. All the passengers raise their hands with their permits and IDs, he collects them and gets off with the package. The bus is sent to wait with the taxis. One passenger is standing on the road, near the soldier’s standpoint. He says the bus is transporting workers returning to Hebron because of the holiday. After a few seconds the soldier forbids him to talk to us. Half an hour later we approach again some bus passengers standing near the carousels. When a soldier (apparently the checkpoint commander) sees us he comments about us not asking his permission to do so, but says he wouldn’t have granted us permission should we have asked for it.In the standpoint a soldier is copying the names from the taken IDs, for “control” purposes. No reason is given why this specific bus is detained: “these are our security considerations, we don’t have to reveal them”. We are sent away from the pedestrian passage.15:48 Within a few minutes from each other both taxis and the pedestrians are released. The bus is still detained. The rest of the checkpoint traffic is flowing, sometimes there is no traffic at all.16:25The bus is released after a 42 minutes detention. Five new detainees are sent to the detention shelter. 16:35Five passengers are taken off two different taxis which continue southwards, and some more are taken off another bus which is sent to wait on the side. The number of detainees in the shelter amounts to 12.A’, the representative of the village inhabitants beyond the temporary barrel barrier approaches us. It has been arbitrarily decided that no cars may pass through the barrier from one side of the village to the other. A’ explains the difficulties of this (not allowing children transport to pass, nor building materials) and says the orders change with every soldier’s whims. He says that he’s already talked about it with Rafi from Ma’ale Adumim DCO, with whom there will be another meeting after the holiday, and asks for our help as well. 16:55All detainees are released.17:10The apartheid road coming back from Kedar is empty, except for 3 Palestinians boys riding their bicycle.