'Anata-Shu'afat, 'Isawiya (East Jerusalem), Al-Ezariya, Container (Wadi Nar)

There are no longer any security forces posted at any of the exits from Isawiya.  There are still the concrete blocks at the exit to Mount Scopus preventing cars from getting through, but now, with no security forces, I would expect that the locals will very soon remove them on their own.

A new sign is up at the entrance to Azariah warning people (but not forbidding them) about entering into a “dangerous” area.  And Azariah is indeed a dangerous area.  The streets are in dreadful shape; drivers  speed down the wrong way on streets – there is, of course, no police presence; and one could easily slip on the refuse that blights the area. 

On the road down to Wadi Nar, we came upon a group of people from EAPPI who were standing at the area from which Bedouin had been expelled some time ago and where infrastructure work (that we have written about in the past) had been carried out.  At last we learned what was going on there.  It appears that the government wants to transfer Bedouin living in the area of Kfar Adumim to this area – much to the chagrin of just about everybody.  Also, there are efforts being made to oust the small band of Bedouin who have stubbornly remained encamped in a small enclave to the south of this area  We were told that there will be a BAGATZ on the matter next week.

Otherwise, all else was quite quiet and uneventful.

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