Moving around and in and out of the West Bank is so easy for us Americans. We got to the point at the main checkpoint in Bethlehem where we sometimes didn’t even need to pull out our passports, and if we did, it was just so that they would see that it said UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. As soon as we pulled them out, the soldiers expressions changed and they were all very friendly and interested in where we were from, “Ahhh, America! Where you from…? New York? LA? Where?”
I continually believe that freedom of movement is one of central issues at the heart of this conflict (which, of course, once you start talking about “movement” issues such as the barriers and the Wall and the checkpoints come up as well). Just read Alyssa’s account of the attempted trip to Tiberias to see an example of how the Israelis have total control over the movement of Palestinians. This is an annual trip that all of the Palestinian Christian youth go on, it’s their one chance a year to get out of the West Bank with all of their friends. Everyone I knew was denied their “permissions.” It was the main conversation the whole week before: “has anyone heard about the permissions?” and “when do we find out if we got permissions?”
I talked to my friend Wasim in Beit Sahour today and he said they had planned a second trip, and they will be trying to leave tomorrow morning at 7am. I asked, “Did everyone get permissions?” And he said, “No. Some people on the bus don’t have permissions – but we want to go – we have to try. We may get stopped, and turned around – but we have to try…” We’re talking a trip to a water park. They so desperately want (and need) to get out of the West Bank for just a day, a DAY out of the year, that they are willing to risk having a confrontation with the soldiers so they can go to a waterpark for a few hours.
My friends, there is something wrong with this picture.
Another story. As I was leaving Bethlehem, and standing on the other side of the checkpoint, waiting for a taxi or bus, I met the owner of the restaurant we always went to in Beit Sahour, The Tent. He was heading into East Jerusalem to go take care of his monthly tourist business and deal with all of his accounts in East Jerusalem, which is where I was going to find the bus station. When we got to one of the checkpoints (this was a different one than I’d been to before), my friend got called to the front of the bus (I realized later that it was because everyone else had a Jerusalem ID card, and he only had a Palestinian ID). My friend and the IDF soldier were having a conversation and the soldier asked me to come forward. This is the conversation that we had:
Soldier: “So, how long have you known this man?”
Adam: “Oh, a little bit now.” (I realized what was happening)
Soldier: “Oh yah? How long have you stayed at his house?”
Adam: “Hmm, probably about a week now – I’m headed into East Jerusalem and he’s going to show me around and then show me how to find a bus to Haifa.”
Soldier: “Yah, well…there is a problem. He knows he can’t get in. He knows what happened…”
Adam: “Yah? What happened…why is there a problem?”
Soldier: “Well, he’ll tell you what happened – he saw it on the TV.”
Adam: “Okay, but he needs to come with me – he has to show me around.”
Soldier: “Okay, well…he knows this is a problem – and you’ll have problems if this happens again tomorrow…”
The soldier was one of the nicest I’ve spoken to. He knew that I didn’t *really* know my friend that well, he probably knew that I wasn’t staying at his house. He also knew that he *really* didn’t have a good reason to keep my friend out of East Jerusalem to do his tourist business.
The “problem” he was referring to, as I found out from my friend, was the suicide bombing in Netanya – apparently since then they’ve ‘closed’ Jerualem to all Palestinians unless you have “medical” permissions to get through. My friend only had a “tourist/business” permission; a permission that affects his livelihood, his family, his business, etc. As we drove past the Bethlehem checkpoint that we Americans always go through, he looked at it and said, “That checkpoint…that one is very very difficult. This one is much better that we go through.”
Does anyone else think it’s wrong when we restrict a people from any type of travel? For medical reasons? For business? For recreation? What would happen if someone were to take away your freedom of movement? You wouldn’t stand for it. So why should we be okay with it happening to the Palestinian people?