Qalandiya - "Look, you are not alone"
New/renewed signs welcome those reaching the checkpoint.
There is nothing like signs and flags all over to fortify the feeling of the ruler that he is right, but the tens of thousands for whom the facility and its endless accessories, the real “clients” of this evil place, do not pay any attention to the signs or flags - they only wish to reach their destination without being shot or arrested. They do not come here of their own choice. They are forced to do so.
‘First in is first out”, said people and told me that Mohammad, the first of the Tamimis being arrested and spending time in Hadarim Prison, was released at dawn and is free again. “For the time being”, one added.
For in the reality of Palestinian life, one might always be arrested all over again.
At the intersection of roads surrounding the checkpoint from the outside, a group of acquaintances surrounded me with their stories about their latest troubles: out of money, out of food, no work, no permits, no end to insult and injury.
An Anata inhabitant described the situation well: for two years he has been building his home and now, reaching the final stages, money ran out just before he bought floor tiles. What did he do? Collected any tiles he found at construction site waste piles, as motley as they come. At least now there is a floor, even if it looks odd.
A vendor child resting on the road, on bare concrete like some forgotten kid.
The reality dictating that a child his age has to help feed the family is in itself an unforgivable injustice.
This misery that has no reasoning arising from the way he looks echoes a phrase by poet Avot Yeshurun:
“Look, you are not alone”.
