Abu Dis Wed. 4.5.05 PMWatchers: Laura S., Tami B., Hanna M., Vered M. (reporting)Traffic flowed smoothly at the Container. We had an unpleasant interaction with an officer at the Container. He was apparently bothered by the fact that a Palestinian-Israeli woman was a member of Machsom Watch. We wondered if his harassment had any connection to his Druze identity.15:30 Cliff hotel appears abandoned.On the road leading up to the monastery, a bar of one of the fences has been removed and a steady stream of people is passing through to the other side. We are told that when people see soldiers in the area they stop going through, and so far the space has not been discovered. We saw no soldiers near this fence, near the monastery, nor at the Pishpash. Al-Ezariya checkpoint (next to the cemetery) – border police jeep, a soldier stands with a weapon. 2-3 soldiers stand next to the jeep checking those passing the checkpoint to Jerusalem. Blue ID carriers are permitted to pass, as are those who live in the area. The soldier claims to know everyone who lives in the area and can recognize those trying to “fool” him. The soldiers were quite stubborn regarding who can pass and who cannot – under no circumstances was someone with a green or orange ID permitted to pass. They also explained to us that there are instances where a driver of a car does not have a blue ID but his car has yellow license plates. According to the soldiers, it means that the car was either stolen or was purchased stolen. We asked about the effectiveness of the checkpoint even though it is not actually permanent. The answer we received was, “They should get used to it.” The Container – A small number of cars pass through from the direction of Bethlehem. In the other direction, mostly trucks and public transits pass through, and the line moves quite quickly. They are delayed only a few minutes. No one is being detained. Aside from the terrible wind, everything seems calm. The minute that we arrive at the checkpoint, a soldier approaches us and informs us that we are disturbing their work and directs us to the other side of the road, opposite from the actual checkpoint, next to the small store. He informs us, “Your spot is over there.” We promptly leave the area and position ourselves in the middle of the road, just next to where the soldiers stand next to the drivers-side of the vehicles passing through. A second later another soldier approaches who appears to be the commander of the checkpoint and begins a conversation with Hanna. He says that he wants to “get to know her.” She responds calmly that she is not interested in him getting to know her. He then asks her where she is from and she replies, “Not from here.” He asks her if she is Palestinian. She responds that she is Palestinian with Israeli citizenship. He asks us if we accept anyone into our organization. A small exchange followed, in which the soldiers asked us what they thought of the situation, the checkpoint, if we wanted their take on it, etc. The soldiers then ask Hanna for her ID. The others respond that if they want to see Hanna’s ID they should ask for all of our IDs. We all present IDs – the soldiers look at all four and take Hanna’s and Laura’s back to their station to “check.” It is not clear to us whom he is calling or what he is checking. When they see us beginning to make phone calls they bring back the IDs. They tell us that they are doing us a favor by allowing Hanna to stay at the checkpoint – she is a security risk and this is “army territory.” Arab-Israelis have also been responsible for terrorist attacks, he informs us, and therefore we should be careful of them. They may be collecting information.