Wadi Nar & SawahreThu. 9 December 2004 PMObservers: Ofra B., Eva P., Ayala Z. and Maya B. (reporting) Arrival 14:40 – departure 16:00Wadi Nar – Immediately after we arrived at the checkpoint, a taxi was impounded. We asked why, and were told by A., representative of the District Coordination Office that “The taxi drove on a road that the army plans to make ‘sterile’, because of the nearby settlements –Ma’ale Adumim and Kedar. So from now on there are two ‘sterile’ roads – one going up to Ma’ale Adumim and the settlement of Kedar (the new road), and the other between Al-Ezariya and Wadi Nar. Both roads are out of bounds to Palestinians.H.G., the checkpoint commander, and the DCO representative, both admitted that it was a weird, illogical decision. Some minutes later, the papers were returned to the taxi-driver, who drove off toward Bethlehem.Concerning the forthcoming elections – we were told that the Border Police soldiers would be briefed this evening, and tomorrow details and instructions will be available. Tomorrow a meeting is also scheduled between the Palestinian liaison office and the Israeli one.The checkpoint commander tried every trick in the book to cut off the electricity that operates the three turnstiles at the checkpoint’s northern entrance, but without success. “They’re unnecessary, after all we checked the people crossing in the morning and there’s no need to check them again on their way home to Bethlehem”. He sought help from the operations officer. We left before he came. Traffic flowed through the checkpoint – mostly taxis – and there were no detainees…although we should bear in mind that passage in both directions is prohibited for privately-owned cars.