TARQUMIYAMonday morning, 23.02.04 Observers: Ofra M and AldemaWe reached the checkpoint at 05:30, having passed another at the Beit Govrin junction where there was a group of people standing and being checked by someone else, but we did not stop to find out exactly what was happening. The day before there had been a suicide bombing on a Jerusalem bus. After that, both of us had encountered checkpoints within Israel proper (a spot checkpoint a kilometre before the Beit Govrin junction and another at the Re’em crossroads) and we were expecting some problems both because of the bombing and because of the proceedings at the International Court of Justice at the Hague where the matter of the “security barrier” was under discussion. The radio reported that the police were on high alert. When we got to the checkpoint itself we met a Palestinian who had already come through and was apparently waiting for someone who had yet to go through. He claimed that he had had no problem. The soldiers did not try to stop us as we walked through to the Palestinian side– there was just an exchange of “good morning!” Immediately afterwards, the two soldiers announced that they going to the lavatory and left the checkpoint in the care of the soldier on guard in the watch-tower. A lorry maneuvering very slowly through the empty checkpoint (it was all rather surreal) waited on the other side and after about five minutes (we timed them!) the soldiers came back and checked the lorry! A couple of Transit taxis arrived, let off their passengers and drove through to the Israeli side. The Palestinian workers who had been aboard the taxis went through on foot, were quickly checked and apparently there were no problems with them. Then another Transit arrived, let off its passengers and went back the way it had come. These Palestinians too passed through very quickly, and the last of them was asked to call us over. There were three Border Police at the checkpoint– one from central Tel Aviv (who was apparently in charge), another from Petah Tiqva and the third a Druse from Beit Jan. The atmosphere was very relaxed. The Palestinians using the checkpoint arrived one group after another, waited their turn, were called forward sometimes singly, sometimes in twos or threes and the soldiers checked their documents, permits, bags etc. Since we had been asked to step up to the checkpoint, we continued to stand there, right in the middle of things, throughout our watch. We noticed that the soldiers were very polite, both to us and to the Palestinians. They wanted to know all about us — why we were there, what we hoped to achieve, our status as volunteers and so on. For their part, they were quite open in answering our questions. Their behaviour to the Palestinians was matter of fact, this was especially true of the Druse member of the team who was by far the most mature in his behaviour.The soldiers told us they had spoken to some of the Palestinians about the suicide bombing and as we stood there they asked one of them what he thought. Speaking mostly in Arabic, he said that in general all that was achieved was that each side set about killing the other side which simply produced a “big mess”. To our surprise, the soldiers did not react to this statement which was in fact charging them (the soldiers) with killing Palestinians (and they were quite aware of the implications of what had been said), nor did they react when the Palestinians failed to deliver an outright condemnation of the bombing. The soldiers were also interested in our opinions. We told them that following the suicide bombing at the Erez checkpoint (in which a young Palestinian woman who was the bomber took advantage of the good nature of an Israeli soldier), Palestinian workers returning to Gaza from Israel later that day had demolished a mourners’ tent set up in her honour by the Hamas and had also beaten up the Hamas members there…..this, of course, is the sort of story that does not find its way into the Israeli media!We learned that the Border Police are not given Arabic lessons in the courses they attend even though it’s quite evident that they will be dealing with an Arabic speaking population. They claimed that they had learned a bit on the job and that generally there was a Dress solider with them in the barracks and on the checkpoint and that thus they learned the basics. (But one has to wonder whether they ever learn “please” and “thank you”!) In general the soldiers were perfectly well behaved….no Palestinians were sent back from the checkpoint and only one lorry failed to go through, and that was because the driver did not have the relevant permit. We left at 07:20, just as the soldiers were changing shifts.One cannot but wonder at how the Palestinians viewed the following two episodes:The soldiers have a barrel in which they light a fire to warm themselves. When we got there, the barrel was as yet unlit. It was bitterly cold. The soldiers had a supply of wood, but no axe to chop it up. So they asked whether any of the Palestinians had an axe!!!!! After they explained the problem to one of the workers, the man took a plank off to the side, leaned it up against a wall and split it with a large stone!The second incident concerned the actual lighting of the fire in the barrel. Apparently none of the soldiers on duty was a smoker, and neither do we smoke. So one by one, each of the workers passing through the checkpoint was asked if he had matches. Finally, one of them offered a lighter. One of the soldiers took it and tried lighting the barrel while another checked the man’s documents. But when that was finished, the barrel was still unlit. The man waited patiently, not daring to ask for his lighter back. Finally, he mumbled something about leaving the lighter with them. The Druse soldier caught on and said no, wait a moment, you can’t go without your lighter and then went to hurry up his comrade and return the lighter. Both episodes happened quickly. On both occasions the soldiers thanked the Palestinians for their help. Still, we could not help wondering what the Palestinians made of both incidents and whether the soldiers themselves were aware of the complexity of the situation. Another incident was somewhat more problematic: one of the soldiers took a permit and held it over the flames in the barrel, asking his friend to decide whether or not he should drop it into the fire. It was obvious that he had no intention of really burning the permit ( one could also tell this from the way in which he reacted when we said that he had nearly caused the Palestinian to have a heart attack) — but he clearly was not thinking at all about the Palestinians when he played his little trick — and it was just that, a childish trick, rather than an attempt to “teach him a lesson” or show who’s master. A childish prank at the end of a long eight-hour shift. As we made our way back to our cars we thought that first of all we should write something good about the shift– so: the soldiers behaved pretty well, all in all, they were pleasant, polite, humane and relaxed. We also thought that perhaps even had we not been there, matters would have proceeded in the same way, but, on the other hand, we cannot help thinking that under other circumstances things can develop differently and even if the original intention was otherwise, what follows may become very unpleasant.