“How do you solve a problem like those ladies?”

A little spoiler to begin our story:  Three women go out on their shift. One is sporting two walking sticks, the other barely hobbles and the third leads them with a feisty stride. Behold their might! The saboteurs are on the way!  Such danger! How do you fight the enormous threat they pose? Why, arrest them, of course.  For only an hour – not that  bad, but the evil, stupidity and vindictiveness are the real disaster.

Checkpoint 300 Bethlehem, known as “Rachel’s Crossing,” goes to show that our mother Rachel, blissfully resting near the checkpoint, apparently ensures with her magical powers (for Jews) that this closed checkpoint will become an open crossing. This year, too, they prepared an easy crossing for those coming to pray at her tomb, but on a much smaller scale than previous years. Only two tents and only one entrance for buses.

Olive Checkpoint – We rushed to make it in time before it closes (open only from 7 to 9 a.m.). We were surprised that no preparations had been made for the screening of those coming to Friday prayers. There had always been advance screening stations near the parking lot for the many visitors and relatively quick screening at the checkpoint itself. Now there are none. Standing in line we met a few Palestinians who had received permits to leave for Jerusalem, but only for one day and on a weekday.  The checkpoint commander, who knows us, made it clear to us that there will be no crossing for Ramadan prayers from the Olives checkpoint this year, and the checkpoint will be open as usual only from 7 to 9 for blue card holders. So, this year, crossing has been reduced to just two checkpoints: in the south – the Bethlehem checkpoint and in the north – the Qalandiya checkpoint. Sounds like a recipe for serious problems and heartbreaking friction at these checkpoints on Fridays.

Container Checkpoint (east of Abu Dis) – Since this is the checkpoint that controls the only (narrow and broken) road for Palestinian movement between the West Bank’s south and north, we wanted to see what happens there during Ramadan. To our surprise, the traffic is very light and the checkpoint is manned by female Border Police soldiers. One of them remembers us from a previous shift. We parked near the minimarket (which used to be a small kiosk run by an elderly woman) and tried to walk down towards the checkpoint.

Immediately, the female soldiers waved us down to the checkpoint. They called some commander and reported that we were driving in a “red zone” (probably enemy territory) and had even entered a checkpoint that was a closed military area. It turned out that we posed a threat to the checkpoint operators and ourselves and that we were acting illegally. We tried to explain that our actions were legal: that we were driving through Area B, which by definition is under IDF security control, and that the checkpoint, by virtue of being a civilian transit zone, could only become a closed military area if it was officially declared so for a certain period of time.  The tough checkpoint commander’s response was: “This is according to your law, my law is different.” We understood that this is the new status of laws in the State of Israel – the law is a narrative entity and whoever decides is the one in control of the place.

At this point, they took our IDs and phones and informed us that we were being detained for up to 3 hours (contrary to what we were initially told, that they would come and escort us from the nearby Border Police base shortly to “blue” (Israeli) territory). 

Unfortunately, they also forced the driver, who had a permanent Jerusalem resident card (a blue card), to come to the checkpoint in his car and humiliated him by publicly counting all the cash he had on him and taking him for a thorough search. Perhaps considering the average age of this dangerous sabotage unit, they allowed us to sit in the car during the arrest, with windows open and car keys confiscated – no risks taken. After about an hour, we were released with the threat that if we came to the checkpoint again we would be taken straight to jail.

Damascus Gate is empty of people, and in the checkpoint square, next to the steps of the amphitheater for festive gatherings on Ramadan evenings, stalls for trade and unaesthetic wooden frames have been set up on which lamps may be hung. Tomorrow our friends will see whether the gate will be filled with people coming to prayer in festive clothes.

The shift is over and the mood is dark. We ruined the holiday for the Muslims and the payback will be heavy. Why are we only acting with force and viciousness? There are other ways too.

Important conclusion: We must ask again for the IDF’s spokesman confirmation that a checkpoint is a civilian area by definition and that human rights organizations are allowed to stay near it and even photograph it. Who knows if the new IDF spokesman will agree to give it (Daniel Hagary was fired from his position that evening), but we should ask our legal advisor to obtain such a document. The situation is getting worse in terms of the attitude of the soldiers at the checkpoint and the commanders of the sectors. The Civil Administration, which used to be able to explain over the phone that we are allowed to observe and document, is no longer reachable.