After all the inspections and screening which the Palestinians have been subjected to at the various entrances to Jerusalem, we meet the large crowd and we know that we might have met many others whose entrance to the Old City has been denied.

Police and border police are everywhere, most of them behind fences at street corners. Minibuses discharge Palestinians right in front of ascent to the Lions’ Gate, but still the old people and the disabled have considerable difficulty climbing it.  This year there is an improvement in the transportation arrangements.

At the junction between Hagai Street and the Via Dolorosa, an usher tries to direct the traffic, but it appears that the crowd decides on its route regardless of the usher’s announcements.

On our way home, at 14.30, I see a crowd of people going back.  The route from the New Gate to Nablus gate is fenced in, and at the junction between Haneviiim Street and Route 1 (on the Eastern side of the city) swarms of people are enclosed in police corrals.  It appears that they are being held so as to regulate their return and the transportation. Police and border police are guarding them (that’s my interpretation but I am observing from a distance).