MachsomWatchers: R.H., R.W. and a guest from the USA.When we arrived at the former pishpash [pedestrians’ gated passageway], there were no soldiers around and people were just climbing the wall. Several Border Police were near the gas station, occasionally checking IDs. We saw several huge trucks driving up the road, carrying the 8-meter blockade columns that will make up the wall in Abu Dis. The course of the current wall had to be moved to accommodate those huge trucks. The area around the hotel is now even more torn up and the preparations for the fence are continuing at full speed. We climbed over the wall and took a van to the Sawahre (“Container”) checkpoint. There was an enormous amount of traffic in both directions. When we arrived at the CP, all kinds of vehicles (including a bus) were moving in both directions. Vehicles headed for Bethlehem passed with no inspection. Those coming in the other directions underwent quick checks. No detainees. No backups. No fights or pleading. A blue-uniformed [Israeli] police officer came over to talk to us. He was surprised to see three women in the middle of nowhere. He wanted to know who we were and why we were there. When we told him, he was fascinated. He said it was his first day on the job at that location. He expressed genuine surprised when we reported that today was an unusually calm day — that there are often huge backups of traffic, that medical supplies and foodstuffs are not allowed through, etc.