Shaked, Rihan - machsomwatch
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Shaked, Rihan

Place: Jerusalem
Observers: Yael Y.,Tami S.
Nov-22-2005
| Morning

Shaked, Rihan, Tuesday, November 22, 2005, AMObservers: Yael Y., Tami S. (reporting)07:30 – 09:15Shaked, 07:30It is only now that the gates are opening. The schoolchildren go through in threes (tlateh – tlateh, is the order from the soldier).Finally there remain on the other side the elderly gentleman, his donkey, and one other man. Neither of them are allowed to pass, the contention being that “olive picking is over.”We asked the soldier to let them through, since he knows them, and they work here regularly, but he replied that it’s difficult enough for him to refuse, and our requests only make it harder for him. We asked him why he can’t use his own discretion in this case, and he replied that his superior will view it very sternly.Rihan, 08:30Very light, tranquil traffic. At the pedestrian crossing, the soldier speaks fluent Arabic (sounds like his mother tongue), and deals with the passersby quietly, seriously and respectfully.A Border Police mobile unit comes from the direction of Israel and ejects illegals. We approach one of them in an attempt to understand what happened, and he tells us that he is the father of six children, and had arrived from Jenin, via Jerusalem, to find any available temporary work. He had spent the rainy nights among bushes with a nylon sack spread over him. By day he stood at the junction where contractors and others look for workers, waiting in the hope that good fortune would smile on him. That was where the Border Police caught him and the others.

  • 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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