Ras Abu Sbitan (Olive Terminal), Sheikh Saed, Tue 4.12.12, Morning

6:50 Sheikh Saed

Our initial plan to cross at Sheikh Saed on our way to Olive Terminal and Wadi Nar was disrupted by the extremely unpleasant scene we encountered on arrival.  Some thirty persons were crowded at the top of the hill, while the crossing corridor and checkpoint stood empty.  It transpired that boder-police soldiers had demanded the observance of a "sterile crossing corridor"; those wishing to cross are summoned to the magnometer one by one from the top of the hill, and only after concluding the checking of one individual is the next summoned from the hill.  According to their evidence, these people have been stuck there since 6:15, with very few crossing.  All are late for work: doctors, teachers, rennovators, etc.  (Pupils cross quickly.)  They have one explanation: on duty today is the soldier N., and when he's there serious 

delays without cause occur.

Phone calls to the Humanitarian Centre, to Headquarters, to the DCO representative at Olive Terminal all promise to deal with the problem, but half an hour goes by and nothing happens.  We call Hanna Barag who goes directly to the Jerusalem commander of the border police.  In the meantime, the security guard of a private company emerges from his booth 

and curses us roundly:  "You are scum, traitors" etc. etc.  The Palestinians tell us that they too are the recipients of his "compliments" from the semiotic field of garbage.  And all this while, the soldier N. stands next to the guard in the checkpoint area with a drink in his hand, his only duty to gesture towards the next person on the hill to come down to the checkpoint.  Evidently it does not occur to him that he could share in the business of checking and speed up the process.

After some 50 minutes a local border police commander  arrives.  The men on the hill are emboldened to advance a few metres and then a little further into the corridor on their way to the magnometer and checks.  One man remarked to the soldier N. that he was not performing his duty, with the result that he was detained and forbidden to cross.  After a while, and then with the commander's intervention, he crossed.

We wish to emphasize that during our stay, not a single person was turned back.  All cross daily on their way to work in Jerusalem and have permits and blue ID's.  We know many of them, and so probably do the soldiers.  In any case, there are nothing to be gained in terms of security by this kind of abuse.

After about an hour the line has dispersed, and at the checkpoint there are some 6 soldiers who accompanied the local commander.  He asks to talk to us, apologises for the conduct of the guard (who has meantime left) and says this was no way to behave.  He promises to draw conclusions and implement them.  It's clear to us that Hanna Barag's intervention was crucial; she managed to galvanize the entire area...

We intend to submit a complaint to the border police commander and to the DCO about the delays, and hope this kind of thing will not recur.

8:40 Olive Terminal

A border police jeep oversees Palestinian workers adding more and more barbed wire to the fence descending toward the northern section of Ma'aleh Adumim (E1 no doubt getting attention in this connection too).  The checkpoint is almost empty, the morning pressure over.  The cleaner of the rest-rooms greets us with a smile.  The tri-weekly cleaning is still in place with palpable in the absence of the former stench. 

We wonder about the significance of the the new fence (see attached photograph) surrounding the access to the checkpoint from the Israeli side.  One possible reason: preparation against civil protests in the checkpoint areas.