Barriers

On Sunday, I travelled from Bethlehem to Jerusalem.  On the face of it, this seems like something hardly worth mentioning, since Bethlehem is five miles away from Jerusalem and, because of urban sprawl, the two have basically merged into one urban area.  However, saying “I travelled from Bethlehem to Jerusalem” is a statement most Palestinians are not allowed to make, except on special occasions and only then with permission from the Israeli government.    

The Israelis have built a wall separating Israel from most of the West Bank (more on that later). In order to pass from one side to the other, people are required to go through checkpoints.  I did this on Sunday.  A checkpoint is similar to going through security in airport, except the atmosphere is more oppressive and punitive (high, dirty concrete walls, long tunnels, metal bars.)   Probably a better comparison would be to entering and leaving a prison.   I went on a Sunday, when the crowds were minimal, but it still took a significant amount of time and hassle.   (People tell me that on a work day during peak times, it is normal to spend 2 – 2 ½ hours on each side coming and going.)   I was able to get through with no problem because I am an American tourist (I had to show my passport.)

However, if I were an ordinary Palestinian, I would not have been let through at all unless I had a permit issued by the Israelis.  (Israelis are also not allowed to enter Palestine without permission.)  I spoke to some of the people from Dar Al-Kalima to better understand how this worked.  Some told me that they were able to get permission twice a year for religious holidays (Christmas and Easter) so they could visit the holy sites.  These passes lasted for about a month.  During that time, if I understand correctly, they can come and go as much as they want.  (I do not know if the pass limits them to Jerusalem, or if they can go anywhere in Israel.)  However, a young Muslim woman told me that she was not allowed to get a pass to visit the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the holy site for Muslims.  I am not sure if that meant she was not allowed to enter Jerusalem at all, but I think that’s what it means.  I was told the Israelis did this to “divide and conquer” the different Palestinian populations.   I was told that if someone works in Israel but lives in Palestine, they can get a work permit to enter and leave (but this permit includes a curfew, so they cannot spend the night.)  One woman told me that she was offered a teaching job in Jerusalem, which came with a significant salary increase.  However, she said she didn’t take it because it would have required several hours a day of hassle.  (Imagine having to go through airport security twice a day just to go and come back from your job.) 

This system creates huge amounts of problems for Palestinians.  I know one couple, for example, where the wife is originally from Jerusalem and the husband is from Bethlehem.  The two are not allowed to live together, even though they have three children.  The wife has a Jerusalem apartment and the husband has a place in Bethlehem.  The wife commutes back and forth frequently simply to see her family.  The requirements for entry to Israel as so stringent and the hassle is such that one young man told me he was 23 years old before he ever went to Jerusalem.  For my Minnesotan readers, that would be the equivalent of a person from Roseville having never been to Minneapolis or St. Paul. 

It is worth noting that Israel is much wealthier than Palestine, so not being able to go to Israel means going without all sorts of medical, educational, and cultural amenities.    (For those of you who like facts and statistics, according to the CIA World Factbook, Israel ranks 41^st in the world in terms of  GDP per capita, out of a total of 262 countries.  For comparison, the U.S. ranks 12, France 35 and Spain 43.  The West Bank, on the other hand, ranks 173^rd, just below Sudan and just above Pakistan.)

The wall and the checkpoints make tourism complicated.  As a general rule, Israeli cabs are not allowed in Palestine, and vice versa.  So one way to go from Bethlehem to Jerusalem (or vice versa) is to take a cab or bus to the checkpoint, get out and walk through security, and then get another cab or bus on the other side.  I was able, however, to take a taxi directly from the Old City in Jerusalem to Bethlehem in one taxi.  The Israeli taxi was able to get into Bethlehem by going the long way around and coming through the “back way” so to speak.  There was a checkpoint on this side, too, but they didn’t do a security check on the way in.  (I don’t know why.)  Because this is a much longer trip, it’s also considerably more expensive, of course.

Regarding the wall, it was first begun in 1994.  Israel said they needed to build a wall to keep out Palestinian terrorists.   Depending on the area, the wall may be made of wire, or, as in the case of the Bethlehem area, it might be a 26 foot tall concrete wall.  Everything regarding the wall is controversial, including the name.   Israelis call it the “security fence,” while Palestinians call it the “apartheid wall” or “racial segregation wall.”  However, one of the most controversial parts is that the wall does not follow the “green line,” the border between Palestine and Israel set in the 1949 armistice.   Much of the wall “snakes inside” to Palestinian territory, which has the effect of grabbing even more land from the Palestinians.

Israelis defend the wall and checkpoints as necessary to their security, saying it helps to prevent terrorist attacks.  I understand the need to defend against and punish terrorists.   However, the result of these policies is to punish the entire population of Palestinians, the vast majority of whom have nothing to do with terrorists.  It would be like putting a barrier around and restricting the movements of a whole state in the U.S. because the crime rate there is too high.  And it only makes the Palestinians even more angry and resentful of Israelis.  As one person said, “Palestine is like one big prison.”