Qalandiya - accessibility at the checkpoint
On my way to the Palestinian side of the checkpoint, from the height of the bridge, I saw security personnel crowding around a young Palestinian man who was being forced against a wall in a hidden corner. There was something curious about this sight which I couldn’t figure out.
On the other side I was received by Bassel who said that there, in the vehicle checkpoint, an argument ensued between the security guard and the Palestinian who came riding his motorcycle. Bassel didn’t know the reason for this argument, only heard that the security guard yelled at the Palestinian to “shut up”. “No”, answered the Palestinian. “Shut up!” the security guard repeated and called his buddies over. The security guards surrounded the Palestinian, dragged him and his motorcycle to the corner next to the wall surrounding the checkpoint, and punched him with their fists.
When they hit him hard and often enough, they released the wounded victim who got a ride with a friend to get medical attention. The motorcycle remained parked next to the wall.
And the security guards? Continued their work as if nothing had ever happened.
Another thing worth mentioning is the oh-so-narrow passages in the concrete delineating the tracks on the Palestinian side of the checkpoint. How narrow? Narrow enough so that two men who accompanied a crippled woman in a wheelchair had to get her out of the wheelchair, support her beyond the concrete slabs, and the wheelchair – too wide to get through – had to be carried above their heads and back to the ground, where the disabled woman could again be seated in it. Only then could they continue to push the wheelchair and get the woman to her destination.
