Abu Dis30.12.05 AMobserving/reporting – Mikhal Z. and Rita M. 9:30 -12:30There is no such thing as “a quiet shift”, or “nothing unusual happened” when the occupation continues and the norm becomes that normal life is disturbed and people are hassled, humiliated, live in fear, confined between walls and barbed wires, denied their freedom of movement, access to work and other sources of income, to family, friends and social services, education and medical care. A very quiet shift? Work on the Abu Dis wallThe enclave of Abu Dis/Al Ezariya is enclosed by checkpoints and roads that are forbidden to Palestinians, and the infamous wall that is moving more and more to being hermetically closed – so that the only crossing into Jerusalem, with its hospitals and mosques and work, will ultimately be the distant, sterile Zeitim ‘Terminal’ at A-Za’ayyem, open only to people with Blue IDs and special permits. Yet despite the ubiquitous presence of the Israeli Border Police around and in this enclosure (probably because of it), there seems to be utter lawlessness within Al Ezariya, according to the residents we spoke to – there is no law enforcement to protect the ordinary law-abiding citizen, no Israeli police and no Palestinian police – and crimes and misdemeanors – from traffic offenses to theft and robbery – can go on with impunity. We took a look at continued construction of the Abu Dis wall, starting from the “new gate” that is closed now by fencing and barbed wire – a temporary situation until that is replaced by the 8 meter wall, which seems to be soon. At the metal gate next to the former ‘new gate’ we met an Italian woman who works for an NGO just behind that gate. She had the key to the gate and let us in to show us where the wall is being built – its foundations are already in place. Her office will be on the Eastern side of the wall. The multistory building next to her (still under construction, not fully populated), however, will be on the Western side of the wall – there were hired guards at this building. We went on to another metal gate to the three and a half story house behind the multistory building, and on the intercom asked to speak to one of the residents, who let us in, and showed us how the wall will be built right in front of their noses – leaving a space of perhaps two or three meters between the wall of their house and the eight meter wall, a space which will be used by the army for access and guarding the wall and will be inaccessible to the residents. The wall will make a ninety degree turn and continue along the back fence of their house. On another side, there is already a high retaining wall, because of the topography, so that their house will be enclosed on three sides by walls almost as high as their building – while on the “open” side is the multistory building. They will have access only by a footpath behind that building. Their house too will be on the Western side – we forgot to ask him if he has a Blue ID – for if he does not, as the other residents of that building who do not, will find themselves as being ‘forced illegal residents’, prisoners in their own homes, who will eventually have no choice but to move into Palestinian side. Strange corners does this wall make – at least four ninety degree turns behind the houses, to connect between the ‘new gate’ and the “old pishpash’. Not much logic, but then there is nothing logical about the wall. At the last section, before it will reach the old pishpash, some caves have been found, as reported here earlier, probably from the time of Lazarus – the old Bethany – and the construction of the wall has been held up – by the department of Antiquities, or by the Catholic Church? In any case, these holes are left unprotected in people’s backyards, and their two-year old very valuable Arabian horse has become their first victim and we witnessed its burial, not far from the caves. Note that there is another set of very interesting caves in the yard of the Monastery, where the wall is also supposed to pass to connect to the wall already built behind the Monastery yard. A ditch has been dug perpendicular to the dirt road that runs along that built part of the wall (the road that can be approached from the Bet Fadj corridor) – is it to stop cars from driving there, or will it become the foundation for the continuation of the wall?The former Pishpash:Two army soldiers, a man and a woman, and a male BP are joined by a jeep with more BP stand at the intersection of the roads, a distance from the wall. There is a closure, we are told – people with work and commercial permits are not allowed into Jerusalem, still most people go by, many without being checked – it seems a random check. Close to prayer time, between ten thirty and eleven, perhaps a hundred people cross, in small groups. Two men with small children are stopped, one tries his luck elsewhere, the other passes after the jeep leaves by taking a different route.There is a confusion about the age that people can pass without a permit, as a special gesture to go to prayers on Fridays. The soldiers believe it is 55. We are approached by a fifty three year old man who has a work permit too, and has been refused entry and we call Eli Gabai, who is surprised, and said he will take care of it – but the man in the mean time disappears, and as far as me could check, Eli Gabai did not call the BP on duty. Container:There is much more thorough checking this week, almost all IDs are checked, but it goes relatively quickly. There are lines of cars, sometimes fifteen, twenty, but eventually everyone passes, including an ambulance.