Checkpoint 300

Taybeh Checkpoint

As an EA, I spent a lot of time at checkpoints.  At agricultural gates, school gates, and at one large workers’ checkpoint, Taybeh (see "Checkpoints" - March 13, 2013), armed with notebook, camera and cell phone, I was an observer. I also went through checkpoints to get from my home in Tulkarm to Jerusalem for training and meetings. On this, my first trip back since my EA tenure 18 months ago, I spent several hours at Checkpoint 300, the pedestrian-only checkpoint from Bethlehem to Jerusalem.

Because Bethlehem is now almost completely surrounded by “Greater Jerusalem,” (and with the completion of a pending section of the “Separation Barrier” will soon be completely surrounded), many workers live in Bethlehem, and work in (five miles distant).  To work “across the green line,” they need permits – another story! – and, those lucky enough to have jobs and permits need to go through the checkpoint to get to work.

Only birds can fly freely over checkpoints

The small group of women I am traveling with is trying to meet local people and listen to their stories – and to experience, in some small way, what they experience in their daily lives.  So Sunday morning, at 5 am, we board a taxi for the ride to the checkpoint.  The driver drops us off and we join the throng of (almost entirely) men heading to Jerusalem on this, the first day of their work week.

We have agreed to use the “Humanitarian” line (the special line for foreigners and those few Palestinians with the “right” kind of permit – usually for medical treatment), so as not to impede the workers.  As we work our way through the crush of workers to the gate at the head of the line, we note men all around us are pushing and shoving to get to the front (although all are respectful of us and give us space to get through).  A large number of men use various creative ways of climbing the 10 foot fence to squeeze through the narrow space at the top in order to “jump the queue” as my British friends would say!  Surprisingly, despite objections from those who were patiently waiting, they help each other over the fence and, even more surprisingly, we note no injuries while we stand there, waiting an hour for the gate to open.

Climbing the barrier (photo by Diana Fisher)

We eventually get into the checkpoint itself, where we pass through metal detectors and ID checks.  The metal detectors are constantly ringing, but people keep coming through and no one seems to care!  On the other side, we stop to pray, then engage in conversation with two human rights observers – one from EAPPI and one from Machsom Watch, a Jewish women’s organization that monitors checkpoints from the Israeli side.  We watched her speak to the soldiers in an unsuccessful attempt to get the Humanitarian gate opened. 

When, at about 7 am, we came back through the checkpoint to the Bethlehem side, the line was still long.  The EA working on that side said she though about 8,000 people would pass through that checkpoint by the end of the “rush hour.”  Mary told us that this was more than twice the number than 2 ½ years ago when she was an EA in Bethlehem. 

Checkpoints are but one of the indignities that Palestinians must endure to live their daily lives.  Over and over we hear, “Please tell people we are human beings.”  “Please tell people to come and see for themselves.”  We do – and we will continue to do so!

 

To hear a poem about the checkpoint experience: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUIqhxMdffE

Sabastiya: Tourists and Bulldozers

Site of John the Baptist imprisonment

Again I return to Sabastiya.  This time it is autumn, and I am bringing my traveling companions to see the place that I have told them is my favourite spot in Palestine.  Ahmad Kayed, a spokesperson for the village and someone I know from previous visits to Sabastiya, greets us warmly and starts our tour with a visit to the mosque/church built on the site where John the Baptist was beheaded.  This is the first time I have been inside the building – in the basement cell where legend has it John the Baptist was imprisoned – and seen the hole through which he was fed.  The church was built in the 4^th Century; it later became a mosque which, Kayed says, is what saved it from destruction in later centuries.

He then leads us across the street to a quiet, tree-lined park, where we sit and converse over coffee and tea.  Kayed tells the rest of the group a bit of Sabastiya’s recent history, and tells us of his work to bring tourism to the town.  He gives us a tour of the new Sabastiya Guest House (http://kayedpalace.wordpress.com/) and invites us to return for a stay.

A short uphill walk takes us to the archeological site, the ancient city of Sabastiya, which was once the capitol of Samaria.  The Romans were in this area in the first century – and left columns from an ancient temple, an amphitheater and a first century church.  When showing us the amphitheater, a cavernous space that once seated 7,000 people, Kayed told us that the week before Israeli bulldozers had been at the site, moving stones inside the ruins.  We speculated on the reason for the bulldozers – surely they wouldn’t destroy a site of such importance!  A wire enclosure now surrounded the amphitheater, where a year earlier I had freely climbed. 

The Roman Coliseum in Ancient Sabastiya

On up the hill we climbed to the top of the site, where we were treated to a panoramic view of the surrounding area.  Agricultural land (much accessible only with difficulty because of agricultural checkpoints), Palestinian villages and the settlement of Shave Shomron, whose sewage had caused such damage last year (see “Sebastiya, Settlers and Sewage” – March 26, 2013 and “Sabastiya – A Happy Ending,” April 7, 2013) and whose settlers had later burned the community’s olive trees (see “A(nother) Sad Story from Sebastiya – June 30, 2013).

The camel waits for tourists who do not come

After all of the exercise, we were ready for a good lunch and Ahmed did not disappoint.  He took us to Holy Land Sun Restaurant, located near the parking area for the ruins, where we enjoyed a delicious lunch of makloubeh and Middle Eastern salads.   We talked about how the Occupation has decimated tourism in the West Bank, particularly in the north, where it is more difficult to access the sites.  Kayed told us that in 1965, Sabastiya was the most visited tourist site in the Middle East, surpassing even the Pyramids of Egypt.  Now, in spite of a USAID contribution to “improve tourism infrastructure,” as well as contributions from the German government, tourists are few and far between, and the few restaurants and souvenir shops left stand empty most of the time.

Sunrise over Sabastiya (photo by Amhad Kayed)

My traveling companions were very impressed with Sabastiya – and with Kayed – and all promised to return, and to tell their friends.  And I will continue to bring my friends there.  There is much more to see in the West Bank than Bethlehem!