Zeitim Checkpoint - First Ramadan Friday 2018

We arrived at about 9:30 a.m. At the checkpoint we met UN observers who went down to the Palestinian side of the checkpoint to monitor the situation there. Apparently passage was conducted without problems. We were placed close to the passages under a shade. A breeze made the heat more bearable.

In front of the actual checkpoint concrete slabs directed the arrivals towards the terminal’s inspection posts. Many uniformed personnel received us – soldiers, policemen, Border Police, and not many Palestinians were observed passing, perhaps because this is the first Friday of this Ramadan month, or possibly  in view of the many circumstance that have affected this past month.

Many over 40 do not need a permit to pass, women may pass at any age, so few of those arriving were required to turn back.

The attitude shown by security  personnel to the Palestinians was respectful and kind. Greeting placards faced those arriving for the holiday pilgrimage ( we could not read the Arabic, it was explained to us), and every Palestinian  received a greeting card from the checkpoint commander. A policeman whom we had already met a year ago made sure everything was done in good spirit and that we wouldn’t bother the soldiers. His positive influence was definitely felt (citing him: “The commander’s spirit determines the atmosphere”).

Inside the checkpoint, too, things moved fast and efficiently – and for the first time none of us was required to present an ID. In view of the especially harsh incidents of the past week, even a meeting with occupiers trying to ease things for the people subjected to their rule constituted a certain little “gift” for us, all the greater for those depending on the occupation authorities for better or worse.