At the Bank

By: Lars

Jan 21 2010

Tags: checkpoint, Green Line, soldiers, Wall, West Bank, workers

Category: Uncategorized

1 Comment

Every morning, about 600 people get up at 2 am and cross the Gilo 300 Terminal from Bethlehem to Jerusalem, about 4000 workers are crossing the wall, either by walking over the checkpoint, or by taking a bus from Bethlehem to Jerusalem every day (5330 permits were issued to Bethlehem governorate Palestinians to work inside Israel and settlements in 2008).

Every morning they are standing in what seems to be two endless queues. One queue at the entrance of the container checkpoint, that is where they are standing outside in the open air, next to the wall, in one line with wired fence on both sides. There is not enough space to have two people standing next to each other. Just inside the wall is a revolving door, the Palestinian workers wait for the light on the door to go from red to green, then they show their permits to the young Israeli soldier in the booth next to the door. He nods his head in blissed ignorance, and the workers continue their journey through a metal detector.

Then the workers run.

I talked to a Palestinian worker at the checkpoint, he told me that if he is late for work three times his employer will fire him. Being delayed by a construction that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has declared contrary to Israel’s obligations under international law (The UN General Assembly also in Resolution ES-10/15 overwhelmingly reaffirmed the ICJ Advisory Opinion), is not a good enough reason to be late for work.

For some people the stress of loosing your job, -the fact that the checkpoint doesn’t always open on time, – occasionally technical problems with the metal detectors, – or, a soldier in a bad mood, makes you run. As fast as you can. Over the parking lot, down to the container room, where you will have to face another queue, another line, more waiting. The clock is ticking, will you be able to be at work on time? How disastrous will it be if you’re not on time?

Some people get sick because of the daily stress, and the mental harassment that the whole every day repeating checkpoint experience is, tormenting them to quit their job on the other side of the wall. Most of the time these jobs are better paid than jobs inside the wall. Also, you should be happy if you have a job: 21,5 per cent of the Palestinian labor force are unemployed(17.7% in the West Bank and 29.7% in Gaza Strip)(2007)). It’s not easy to quit a job. Not in Palestine, not in Norway.

Ok, back to the container checkpoint: You are finished running (for now). This time you’re waiting inside a big hall. There are two rooms (well, there are three, but they never open all three at the same time), with metal detectors (again!), and a machine to scan all your belongings. While waiting in line, you’re having Israeli soldiers with machine guns patrolling on a strange “cat-walk” over your head. Yelling to you in Hebrew if you do something “wrong” (it’s not easy to know what you have done wrong when the soldier yell at you in a language you don’t understand).

After a while (A study conducted by the UNRWA over three days in January and February 2009 showed that the average crossing time was 1 hour 10 minutes with a range from 22 minutes to 3 hours and 19 minutes. According to the EAPPI, on a normal day it takes 1 hour and 30 minutes if you are queuing from 4.30 am. ) you will reach a new revolving door, wait for the light to turn green, then enter room with the metal detector and the machine to scan your belongings. If the detector beeps when you walk through it, you will have to try again, the soldier will probably also yell at you in Hebrew (again!). The soldier scans your belongings, making sure that you don’t bring weapons (even though, there are not really any civilians who owns weapons on the West Bank any longer.) Some soldiers consider certain tools weapons (even though it is clear that you are a carpenter working for a contractor in Israel), and they will not allow you to bring it. Which means, that they in a way don’t allow you to do your work. Some soldiers don’t care. Which makes the whole checkpoint experience even more random, and tormenting, and makes you more stressed and insecure, and I would guess; makes you run even faster.

After collecting your belongings from the conveyor belt, you also have to wait for a new green light on another revolving door. As the light turns green, you enter a new room, with 12 booths (maximum four of them are staffed, though), where you will have to show your papers to the soldier, have your magnetic ID- card scanned, and your fingerprints scanned. The machines to scan all of this are being used several thousand times every day, and together with a worn out ID-card it might take a while to get the system to work, and grant you access to the other side of the West Bank, grant you access to the western parts of the West Bank

It is not a border, if the wall was a border, and the checkpoint a border crossing it should have been built on the green line (the ceasefire line from 1949 (often referred to as the 1967-borders), which is the internationally recognized border between Israel and the West Bank).

Anyway, you start running again. To the bus that waits for you, the same bus that will take you back to the checkpoint, in time for you not to get a mark in your access papers. Some workers have to be back to the checkpoint at 5 pm, others can stay in the other part of the West Bank until 7 pm. When the bus drops you of at the checkpoint, you once again start running. Being late back to the checkpoint three times might result in your permit being hold back one day, preventing you to go to work, and then possibly loose your job.

This is the occupation, wishing the Palestinians a good morning!

Also, this is a short film made by Images for life -project from Al-Rowwad center in Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem. It should give you an image of how it is at the checkpoint an early morning.