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including Shu’afat and Hizme

Place: Jerusalem
Observers: Lital Y.,Anat M.,Ilana D.
Sep-13-2005
| Afternoon

Shuafat Refugee Camp, Ar-Ram, Qalandiya, Hizme, Tuesday PM, 13.09.05, from 2:30 to 5:00 Observers: Lital Y., Anat M. and Ilana D. (reporting)Shuafat Refugee camp 2:30 , Children were returning from school in Jerusalem, some on foot, many by bus. The BP-men appeared bored. The few cars and pedestrians passed without delay. The garbage is piled up high along the road. One car with three young men was stopped (after we were spotted?) and the papers were inspected, but returned after a short while. Ar-RamQuiet, not many cars and even less pedestrians. No queue whatsoever. Qalandiya We went up the stairs to have an overview to try and understand the massive construction and the way the wall is running. I personally had not been there for a couple of months and was amazed at the amount of earth that had been moved to make way for the terminal. Anat had never been before and was in shock. The noise and air-pollution even beat the amount of rubbish on the ground. The peddlers complained that none of us had been there in the morning when their wares had been thrown on the ground. They said that the soldiers had warned them five minutes earlier that they had to leave, but this proved false alarm. We saw huge kitchen knives for sale.The CP appeared quiet, people passed without delay, we continued to the North and watched the traffic in the direction of Jericho. Cars from Ramalla with Palestinian number plates (unless in possession of a special permit) are not allowed to take the road via Jaba and have to travel via Bir-Zeit. Drivers asked us what all this was leading to and when life would become easier. On the way back the soldiers acted courteous. A young man was detained when he photographed a female soldier. He was pushed and intimidated before he was taken for a thorough checking into a concrete hut. His mobile phone was confiscated and the soldiers kept looking at it. When asked they told us that he had taken pictures of soldiers and they wanted to investigate the matter further before releasing him. We did not wait.There was a lot of army presence on the road to Hizme via Jaba. The entire plot of the merchant of marble and building equipment at the turn-off to Pisgat Zeev has been included within the wall under construction. The owner must be pleased. There were two lines through the Hizme CP into P. Zeev, one for Israelis and one for Palestinians, but no queue.

  • Jerusalem

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    • The places in East Jerusalem which are visited routinely by MachsomWatch women are Silwan and Sheikh Jarrah. During the month of Ramadan, also the Old City and its environs are monitored.

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