Al-Ezariya, Abu Dis, Wadi Nar (Container) Tuesday AM, 8.11.05Observers: Hanna A., Michaela R. (reporting).Summary: Some hundred vehicles crowded by the rolling CP at the exit of Al-Ezariya. According to the BP-men manning the CP, this is the entrance CP to Jerusalem.Lengthy detaining and interrogating of young men in the Container.06:30 The exit of Al-EzariyaPronged chains are spread across the road at the exit and at the entrance. Many BP-men around and as their number grows, so does the commotion. About a hundred vehicles are spread all over the road towards the exit. Pedestrians are sent only to the eastern side of the street.The drivers are impatient. Those daring to argue or to express their aggravation get their ID taken and are sent back. The drivers claim that during the past two weeks there have been problems every morning. In contrast, the soldiers maintain that for now this is the entering CP into Jerusalem because Az-Za’ayyem CP does not operate at these hours. “They” throw Molotov bottles and lie. The policemen see nothing wrong with people being late for work and children stuck on their way to school.At this stage they began detaining pedestrians as well. About twenty were detained.South of the road, between the new and old Kedar, construction is taking place. Preliminaries for the wall??? Inside the new Kedar there are preparations for the building of a new neighborhood.07:30 Wadi Nar (Container)Long lines of vehicles in both directions. The soldiers are having coffee, the cars are at standstill and so are the pedestrians huddled near the turnstile. Suddenly, an arm is waived and all 21 vehicles sweep by towards Bethlehem. Not one of them was checked, but their detaining was undoubtedly for important security reasons. Is that not so?Men, most of them young ones, are taken off a bus. Soon they will be joined by an additional group from another bus. They stand before the turnstile and not one soldier gives them the time of the day. Later they are let through as a group and into the detainees’ shed, which is getting full to the brim. And then began the following procedure: a bodily checking (for all eyes to see), waiting, going into a jeep (for questioning? for an interrogation? for recruiting collaborators?), back to the shed and a short wait till they get back their ID and are released. Since there were a large number of people going through this, the process was long. We watched it being carried out for 50 minutes and as we were leaving there were still many people in the shed. In the meanwhile the line of vehicles from Bethlehem reached the curve and in some places there were three lanes.08:50 Abu DisAt the former Pishpash – A BP-man and two soldier girls are sitting at the foot of the wall. One detained young man, they suspect his ID is forged. Heavy traffic in the monastery yard, but at this point our security forces are content sitting comfortably and checking passers-by at random.At 09:05 a jeep arrives and a gusty wind descends. 4 additional detainees, who were caught on the monastery grounds or up the street, join the single detainee. The soldier girls, who do not speak a word of Arabic, tail the people and ask to see papers, they stand in the middle of the street and check people coming out of the monastery. Checking is usually short and matter of fact – we did not see anyone being sent back.At the new Pishpash the atmosphere is similar. People over 45 enter even without proper permits. A tender whisper or a soft plea also work today. The calm atmosphere in Abu Dis is in clear contrast to the tension and the unusual abundance of soldiers we encountered in Al-Ezariya and in Wadi Naar.