8 a.m. Hamra Checkpoint

Where are you? – At the checkpoint.

Are you in the car? – No, standing on the road.

Where? – We crossed the checkpoint.

We came to the checkpoint to pick up two Palestinian women who wish to lodge a complaint against Moshe Sharvit who does not fulfill the distancing order imposed on him by the Israeli court, to keep a 30 meter distance from the Nasariya residential area, about a kilometer from his home. He has broken this order 3 times, came and harassed the families and their flock with his frightening presence. Two women, sisters married to two brothers, are extremely brave. They have testified against him in a Jerusalem court at the beginning of the month, and now wish to complain against him with the police for breaking the order.

We were ready to wait for them as long as it takes them to cross the checkpoint. Wonderfully, they crossed fast.

9:30 a.m. Benyamin police station

We are greeted by four women soldiers at the gate, armed, their pockets filled with something. One needs to photograph this walking weapon…

What are you doing here? How did you get here? Do not hold up traffic. You are detained. Give us your papers.

Wait until we find out what’s going on here. The police will be here in two hours.

• Is there a toilet here?

For you, yes. For them, no.

• So what will they do?

Go back to where you came from. Let them wait for a policeman who will accompany them to the toilet. You wait. You are detained. They mustn’t get out of the car.

We wait. It’s a small car. Three women in the back seat. Their garb fills the whole space, in front sits the Haj who accompanies them. He too want to complain but they explain that there’s no need. He is only an accompanier.

The police does not come. We leach onto every police car that arrives at the gate to pick us up. It doesn’t. The women soldiers’ shift is over. They disappear with their entire gear.

A man with an unknown uniform says he’s in charge of the entrance.

• Could you help us with the police? – I’ll try.

Another police car arrives. Ready to accompany us to the inside. We have also picked up another Palestinian waiting to lodge a complaint.

12 noon Entrance to the police station

Our Palestinian women sat down at a table in the adjacent coffee place. Ordered coffee. Almost drank it… Policemen hurry to look for them. No go. No coffee.

Get inside. Wait. You’ll be summoned.

We wait. In the sun. We are allowed inside. The Haj remains outside. Sits down. Above us inside the station, channel 14 fills the space with lies and inventions. No way to get away from it. The whole time my two bench friends are asking: What are they saying? What did the soldier say? Why are we waiting? When will they come” Why don’t they come? Where is the investigator? And then sometime it happens. Lunch time is long gone. Here is the investigating police officer who is even an Arabic-speaker.

He takes one of them to testify. We wait under Channel 14 for about an hour. An eternity.

The investigator does without the other woman’s testimony for they were both together in the same place, with the same situation. Thank goodness. We leave the police station.

• Hey, where are you going? Who let you out? You need to be accompanied. You
• can’t just walk out this way. – So where’s our accompaniment?
• Wait, he’ll come.

We wait. No one comes.

Drive on? No? We wait.

And wait.

We drive. The sun is already at a quarter to. Ways leads the car to a shortcut and we find ourselves at the entrance to Shilo settlement. No more no less…

A military gate. Two Soldiers.

• Why are you? What is this? Palestinians?? Give me your IDs. Wait for the officer.
• We took a wrong turn.
• Wait

People in cars look at us and swear. Stop. Heads of hill thugs or adult hill thugs, swear at people who have profaned their living space with Palestinians. A real car with Palestinians has landed right in their faces. On this holy land.

The Palestinian women: What will happen? Will we be arrested?

• No. Don’t worry.

Two wishy-washy soldiers wait for the senior officer to decide. They are not authorized to let us make a cheap U-turn. We wait. And wait.

A smiling captain arrives. Gives us back our IDs.  We drive. Actually drive.

Eastward. Along Road 60, there are one settlement after another on the range…

Yesterday Olmert talked about a Palestinian state in one of the WhatsApp videos. Made me laugh. Tapuah Junction… Duma village in front. Gitit settlement on the right. Mekhora settlement on the left. Carpets of solar panels and new greenhouses along Allon Road.

4:30 p.m. Hamra

Bye. Happy Leil al Qader…

Hope you make it home alright. Another hour and a half and we’ll be home too.

A nightmare.