Travel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory
After a two-day placement in Jayyous, I started off back to Jerusalem at 11.30am on a Tuesday. We learned that today there was no "service" (a public vehicle for seven passengers) direct to Ramallah, so it was necessary to go to Qalqilya and pick up another "service" to Ramallah. This journey sounds simple, but the reality must take account of that Qalqilya is virtually enclosed by the Wall, built by the Israeli Government to protect its citizens from attack by terrorists in the Palestinian community, but which divides Palestinian communities and leads to vehicle and passenger checkpoints in and out of towns and villages. There are established checkpoints and sometimes so-called "flying" or random checkpoints, which all cause delays and frustrations. My journey involved three checkpoints in all.
In addition, the "service" needs to have seven passengers, so we waited, eventually agreeing to pay an extra 5 shekels each to make up for the missing passenger. To every one’s relief we set off for Ramallah, queuing for 20 minutes at the checkpoint on the way out of Qalqilya, only to be by-passed by UN and Red Cross vehicles going through unhindered. A fellow passenger said with a degree of resignation that this journey, full of uncertainties, was a regular journey for her, meaning she always had to allow extra time if she wanted to keep her job.
The bus journey from Ramallah to Jerusalem takes in yet another checkpoint at Qalandiya, so all passengers except myself and one other, both deemed "elderly," had to get out to go through the checkpoint. 15 minutes later, they emerged and rejoined the waiting bus. In the meantime, the bus driver had had time for prayer. My fellow passenger and I were thoroughly scrutinised, a young well armed female soldier and her accompanying guard, demanding my passport and his Blue Identity card (giving him Jerusalem identity). In Jerusalem, there was a change of buses, necessary because the Wall around East Jerusalem means that direct journeys to the Mount of Olives are no longer possible. I arrived back at my Jerusalem home just after 4pm.
That evening, the true madness and frustration of the stranglehold of the Wall and the associated checkpoints truly became a reality. It had taken 4 and ½ hours to travel about 50 k or approximately 35 miles, because no direct route is now possible. How can jobs and the economy survive, I asked myself. If Internationals working here all had to use public transport and suffer the indignity and frustration of the checkpoint queue every time, with no special exceptions, would that bring more pressure to bear for change and improvement?
It brought back a fellow passenger’s comment: "They [the UN] say they are here to help us, but they get special treatment and go to the front of the queue. Are we really less worthy than them?"
Action speaks louder than words and it is my hope that the experience of this journey will always remain alive in my thinking, especially when I am back home, taking an hour or less to do a similar journey.
