ABSTRACT
Working days in the shari‘a court of West Jerusalem begin early and end late. Abu Zayd, the acting chief clerk, usually arrives at court before 06:30, 1 and begins to prepare the court for the day. He takes out office accessories (e.g. court stamps, which are held in locked drawers), and piles up the dossiers for the day on the qadi’s desk. Between 07:00 and 07:30 the qadi arrives from Jaffa by car (a fifty minutes ride). 2 By arriving so early to court, he told me once, he manages both to avoid the traffic jams at the entrance to Jerusalem, and to prepare himself for the day’s hearings (by going over the files). By 08:00 the rest of the staff, including the Jewish armed guard, arrive at the court. 3
