Checkpoints

An Israeli soldier and Palestinians waiting to pass through a checkpoint. Photo courtesy of http://riseresistandrevolt.wordpress.com.

One of the most visible of the daily inconveniences Palestinians face in the West Bank is the numerous checkpoints that are set up along their roads, many of them internal to their own internationally-recognized territory. As of now, there are nearly 100 fixed checkpoints within the West Bank and along its borders.

Hebron residents going home for Iftar passing through internal checkpoint

They are all, of course, illegal, and have routinely been condemned by the international community and human rights organization. Their justification is familiar: security. This is a buzz word used by Israeli (and US) politicians that immediately justifies a range of illegal actions, from land annexation through the “security wall” to extra-judicial arrests or military operations.

Entering the Palestinian territories is easy enough, and usually, at least in my limited experience, vehicles won’t even be stopped. But coming from a Palestinian territory into Israel proper is a different story. The process to get from Bethlehem to Jerusalem, the first checkpoint I passed through, wasn’t too time consuming. All the Palestinians had to get off the bus and briefly show their IDs, while foreigners could simply show their passports to the soldiers who came on the bus.

Ramallah to Jerusalem is much more difficult. I used Ramallah as a base to see the rest of the West Bank and so spent around ten days there. But the one day I decided to see some more of Jerusalem, it was so time consuming that I didn’t pass through that checkpoint again until I had to leave for the airport. It’s no more than 10 or 15 kilometers from Ramallah to the bus station in Jerusalem, but it took me about 2 1/2 hours to arrive.

The line at the Ramallah checkpoint

A man I met said 20 years ago he could get from Jerusalem to Ramallah in 15 or 20 minutes. Things have changed a bit.

When the bus arrives at the checkpoint, everybody (including foreigners) must get off and walk through the checkpoint while the bus goes through the vehicle checkpoint. There are usually on 2 or 3 lines open. Each has a revolving door that allows about 3 people at a time to enter, place their things through a scanner, and show their IDs to a soldier behind some thick glass. Eventually you get to the other side and hop back on a bus going to Jerusalem.

A Palestinian man I met with American citizenship (Israel took away his right to live in Palestine when he was gone for more than a year) told me that the Israeli government is always worried about security. He made what I thought was an interesting and astute comment: “Thieves never feel secure.” The Israeli government has stolen much through its 44-year occupation of Palestinian territory. That occupation is actively resisted in different forms by those who are oppressed. The resistance, and thus the insecurity felt by Israelis, will persist as long as all that has been stolen is returned.

To read more about the checkpoints, here is a helpful post by an activist in Britain (she also discusses the Ramallah checkpoint, “Qalandia”).