Every Friday afternoon, I drive two members of my checkpoint team home. I turned from the Hebron Road left into the road leading to the checkpoint and discovered that it was blocked by a Border Patrol vehicle. 3 buses of the East Jerusalem company were parked on the roadside and all their passengers were taken down and demanded to present their permits. Two Border Patrolmen and another policewoman were doing the checking.
Another few people were standing around, protecting the “job”. I stopped to watch.
There were mainly men, very few women on the buses. The people were checked very slowly and demanded to return to the buses. Those who were in a hurry and wished to continue on foot were blocked with shouts and told to get back into the buses.

One of the Border Patrolmen who realized I was watching and trying to photograph came near and yelled at me, “Get away!” I answered, “Why? This is public space and there’s no parking prohibition.”  He continued: “You’re obstructing our work”. I wouldn’t give in: “Not exactly. But maybe you can explain to me why all this takes place when the only way one could possibly exit the checkpoint is with the magnetic card that shows exactly who has a permit and who doesn’t – why the extra harassment?” He answered: “Show me the phone, open the photos.” I did so, as a Border Patrolman is like a policeman and anyway, I hadn’t had time to take photos. Then he notified me: “Lady, get away from here and don’t bother us. There are security considerations.” I didn’t budge, and they must have given up on me.

I sat there for 45 minutes, until they all went back to the buses. I didn’t manage to speak with any of the passengers to find out how long they had been delayed. People at the end of their work day, their work week, are tired and in a hurry to get home. One cannot assume that people without permits would pass through the checkpoint anyway. So, all this is done obviously to show them who’s boss around here, why not?