Anata, Ar-Ram, Qalandiya

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Place: 
Observers: 
Rita M.,Claire O.
Feb-3-2006
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Morning

Anata, A-Ram, Qalandiya,Friday 3.2.2006, 9-11.45 Observers: Rita M., Claire O. (reporting) Anata:About 14 border polices and 2 soldiers. Most of the border polices at the checkpoint, while every once in a while, 3 or 4 make the rounds higher up the hill, where Palestinians bypass the checkpoint. Holders of blue ID’s and older people pass without difficulties. Cars also pass after a quick check. We hear one of the BP complain to the others: “Come on, start to detain, this is boring me.” The others do not seem to get excited, and he adds: “What is the matter with you?” A-Ram:We stayed only a short time: there is a line of about 20 cars, but the check is short. Few pedestrians try their luck. A soldier stops a car with three people in it, a woman who does not have any papers. The driver is told to park at the side. The checkpoint commander goes up to the driver and speaks with him (the commander speaks good Arabic). The driver explains that the woman passenger is a relative who is visiting his family from abroad and needs to get to the Mosque after not having been there for many years, and asserts that it is his responsibility and he can be trusted. The commander listens attentively and apparently knows the man and indeed trusts his and lets him through. (There are situations when the occupation is a little less atrocious and depressing, when a person is present who understands the meaning of human dignity and of using his or her power of judgment. But these situations are so coincidental and momentary that they do not carry any weight.) Qalandiya:The opening in the wall that is in the process of construction looks even narrower. It is not clear when it will be finished. Where will the people pass then? We pass by the sign “The Hope of us all” where the words that had been written on it, “Arbeit Macht Frei”, have been painted over in black, yet the black paint still keeps the recognizable undulating shape of those words. We go to the car checkpoint. About 20 cars are standing there. The checking is relatively quick, the people are hardly ever asked to get out of their cars and are not ordered to open the trunk. One driver turns to us and says that the wait is only about 20 minutes, thanks to our presence. One of the soldiers approaches us and as usual, asks us to move further away (“for security reasons”). He is surprised that we are willing to talk to him: “There are Watch women who are not willing to talk to soldiers”. We answer that especially lately there are many soldiers who are not willing to talk to women from Machsom Watch. He says we wants to talk to us as he soon finishes his shift at the checkpoint, but when he meets us again standing in line at the turnstiles in the pedestrian checkpoint, he does not seem to have the patience to wait… Here the atmosphere is much more harsh and aggressive. The voices blasting from the loudspeakers, the blunt, shouted orders. Many people arrive with hopes of passing. Through the loudspeakers it is announced again and again: “to all Palestinians below the age of 45 – no passage today. There is no sense in waiting.” Three young women with a girl and an older woman are turned back at the check of documents. They try to find other ways to pass, but there are none. In the end, the older woman and the girl pass, and the others stay behind. (There is closureinfo-icon and in the alienating situation of the ‘terminal’ there is no possibility to go up to a soldier and to appeal to his or her power of judgment in this or any other situation.)We decide to pass through the first turnstile and, being compliant, we move towards the passage designated for women only. There was another attempt to expel us. They call out in the loudspeakers: “Watchers, you do not have the right to be here. There are orders that you are not to be here. Get out immediately”. We argue through the intercom, and only when we say that we will call the Army spokesperson, do they suddenly decide that we are allowed to pass through the checkpoint and add: “But you have to wait in line to the turnstile with everyone.” As if we thought of doing any thing else …There are not many women in line, but soon it gets more and more crowded as they let only one woman at a time through the second turnstile, and each time they lock the turnstile electrically. After passing that turnstile, each woman must go up to the glass and metal enclosed booth – between two turnstiles – where three female BP are sitting, calling out orders, usually very aggressively, by means of a loudspeaker. Women try to go through the turnstile two at a time, each time the green light goes on over the turnstile, but the space is very tight and they are squeezed against each other. Through the loudspeaker comes the order: “wahad, wahad”. Suddenly a shout in Hebrew: “How long do I have to wait until you put out your ID?” The nervous question is posed to an elderly woman who clearly does not understand Hebrew. (This “terminal” that they tried to compare to an airport, is completely different, of course, not only due to the narrow turnstiles that can be locked but also because of the “counters”). The elderly woman is taking such a long time, as she has not yet discovered how to present her ID. She must bend down in order to lift up the metal cover and to pass her ID through the slot. After it has been checked, she has to again lift up the metal cover and pull out the ID. After about 25 minutes of standing in front of the turnstile, being pushed against the gate, with the shouting of the BP women resounding in our ears, we finally pass through. “Hey, Watch, write about us in your reports!” One of the border police turns to us. She examines our ID’s very carefully, looks for a long time at the slip with the names of our children and our home addresses. Suddenly, as if she is holding a precious booty, she shows one of us that her driving license is about to expire, explaining: “You know, we are not only border police, we are also the police.” Then she asks who we plan to vote for in the elections! In the meantime, the Palestinians must wait. We pull out our ID’s and get out quickly. The sun that shone earlier has disappeared and it has started to rain. At A-Ram the wait is about 15 minutes in the line of the vehicles.