Jerusalem-surround: Desolate and dreary. It hurts to see the emptiness

Due to traveling abroad, we hadn't done the rounds for about two months, so this time we spread out  on several fronts. We found that there are changes. The routine of "almost closed" has become norm at the large checkpoints, which open in the morning for one and a half hours (the Olives) up to three (Bethlehem), according to a report by Tamar P. The same is true in Qalandiya. it hurts to see the emptiness.

In the afternoons there are changes for the purpose of signing in the returnees (the administration's wet dream of tracking those who stay beyond working hours has come true). The only option is to find out if there are exceptions. But who can you speak to in this hostile administration? It's worth checking out the afternoon shift as well, and we'll do that later.

News in the realm of roads and construction - at the Olive checkpoint we discovered that there are preparations for a grandiose excavation of the "Sheikh Inbar Tunnel" - a 1.6 km tunnel from Highway 1 to Silwan under Palestinian neighborhoods.

There is expansion work at Anata, perhaps for a new checkpoint (the residents' hypothesis), and on the way to Qalandiya, in the town of Hizma, the day before, they destroyed, without warning, a garage belonging to our acquaintance from Sinjil.  At the Qalandiya checkpoint we saw advanced stages of a checkpoint-bypassing road for Israelis only, and standstill traffic  from Kfar Akab and the Qalandiya camp towards the south. A daily nightmare added to the lack of water.

7:15. Bethlehem checkpoint (300) - They opened at 6:00 am and will close at 9:00 am, but it is now a wasteland. There are two open positions and so very few passers. The passage by vehicle to Bethlehem is open. There are no active buses, there is one coffee and pretzel stand. Desolation and dreariness.

Driving on the American highway south of Sheikh Sa'ed, unfortunately, we did not manage to meet with an acquaintance of ours there, to hear what is happening in that village now isolated from its mother-village, Jabell Mukaber. If we pass we will not be able to return because the checkpoint is only for villagers with a blue card or a permit.  Because of the school holidays, almost no one passes. All the loosening of restrictions promised to the residents by the Supreme Court were forgotten.

We drove on the American highway that was slightly widened up to the turn to Silwan. From where it is bumpy and narrow (apparently beyond that turn it is no longer interesting because there will be a tunnel for the Israelis). When we arrived in Ras Al Amud the gate of the Ma’ale Ha-Zeytim settlement was open and we photographed the old police station which is at the core of the large settlement, so strategic for the Jews of East Jerusalem.  Ultra-Orthodox women and children huddled at the gate and waited for transportation to the schools in the Jewish Quarter and more. More at our (taxpaying)expense: a minibus that is parked opposite and goes to the Western Wall every half hour.

From there to Abu Dis, the old blocked road to Jericho, a look at the Cliff Hotel, which is deteriorating day by day, and checking whether they started building the "Kidmat Zion" neighborhood that was approved a power seizure of expedited and non-standard procedures. 384 housing units under the initiative of "Ateret Kohanim".

We drove, with the Mount of Olives below us, to the Olive checkpoint located opposite the A-Tur neighborhood (for orientation: Augusta Victoria Hospital), which sits between the Olives and Mount Scopus. A steep ascent made of everything built around leads to the checkpoint. It will be dominating and high and difficult for the target audience…

The buses going to Jerusalem are not operating at the moment. Two taxi drivers say that the checkpoint opens for about an hour to an hour and a half in the morning. At the checkpoint - the policeman we have known for many years confirms their words. What has been renewed is the blocked passage with a roundabout and inspection stations for those returning from work to Azaria and south, and a new work camp, whose employees say that any minute work will start  on the tunnel from there.

According to Peace Now, this is the Sheikh Inbar tunnel. As you will read in their publication, the execution of the tunnel project is also part of the unfolding "miracle" of the Messianic camp since the Seventh of October:

"The northern part of the Eastern Ring Road is its most ambitious part: about 3 km long, of which 1.6 km is in a tunnel under Palestinian neighborhoods, as well as two bridges. The cost of this section is estimated at over NIS 900 million. The detailed planning of the road was completed last year, at a cost of tens of millions of NIS. The next stage is the execution stage, and it depends on the transfer of the necessary budget by the government.

In March 2022, the detailed plan documents were submitted to the Jerusalem Municipality for the purpose of opening a case for a building permit, a procedure that is expected to take several months, and as mentioned on 5/22/22 the head of the Civil Administration signed the land expropriation order necessary for the northern connection of the road to the Olive Exchange. The various government agencies are completing the bureaucratic preparations so that as soon as there is a moment of political fitness and the funds are approved, the works can begin immediately."

From there we drove on the apartheid road 4370 leading from road 1 to Anata (which is a direct continuation of the Shuafat refugee camp). Beyond the giant traffic circle that has been completed, there is construction work on the road, and Kamal the driver says that they say it will be a new barrier... 

We continue towards Qalandia on road 437 and reach Hizma. We went in to see the garage of our friend E. from Sinjil, which was destroyed yesterday without warning - this is what Irit Segoli told us last night. (Please note, this is not Area C, but Area B, and as published, the administration is pressing to begin extensive demolitions also in lands in Area B, which were defined in Oslo as those that will be transferred to the Palestinian Authority by 1999 (according to the Wye Agreement that Netanyahu signed).

E. could not come to talk to us, but we took pictures, and so we were also able to warn him that a large pile of tires was lying among the ruins, and is a great temptation for theft.

We finished the shift by watching the works for the road bypassing the Qalandiya checkpoint intended for Israelis only and connecting to the roads leading to Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. And so it will be easy to get from the West Bank to the center of the country. It is hard to say that we are clear about what is going to be there, but the picture is becoming clearer. See in the photos a new roadblock, an entrance to the settlement and a continuation that splits into the road back to the West Bank and another road still blocked with dirt to connect to road 443. The wall functions as a separation between the road and the Palestinians between Jerusalem and the southern West Bank (passing near the entrance to the A-Ram enclave) and between the expanded Qalandiya checkpoint.

I know I confused you, so look at the photos or better yet, come, join our shift and see with your own eyes.