Initial Reflections: Restricted Movements

December 14, 2010 

Jerusalem

This is my first blog since arriving in Israel to serve with others from the World Council of Churches as “accompaniers” in Palestine.  One week ago three of us from the United States flew from NY to Tel Aviv.  Later I met the three other persons on my team, a Norwegian, a Swede and a woman from Switzerland.  After an initial orientation in Jerusalem we traveled to Tulkarm, in the northwest portion of the West Bank.  Tulkarm is a city of over 70,000 which includes two large refugee camps.  We met the present team which has been there nearly three months and whom we will replace.

Tulkarm is about 9 miles from the Mediterranean Sea, but our view is obstructed by a 20 foot Separation Barrier built on the edge of Tulkarm .  Our team was oriented by the present team and I have already had early morning checkpoint duty.  I quickly learned that I needed to get some rain pants  as it is the rainy season.  But I am grateful that I brought some insulated mud boots.

On Sunday we traveled to Nablus (Biblical name:  Shechem) to worship at an Episcopalian church.  It was good to worship even if we didn’t understand the Arabic.  It was a bumpy 20 mile ride and we almost got stuck in the mud on our return, but it was a good trip.

Yesterday , after a meeting at one of the universities  in Tulkarm, our team left for a scheduled training in Jerusalem.  .  The first part of our journey went smoothly as we rode by a  “Service “, which is 7 passenger taxi which is commonly used..  Then we transferred to a larger bus to get to our training meeting at the EAPPI headquarters.  When we reached a checkpoint in Ramallah there was more compacted traffic.  Our bus driver was trying to line his bus up to get through a checkpoint.  He was in a far lane and he moved the bus to the next lane as it looked like it had fewer vehicles waiting in line.  A young (maybe 19-20 years old) fully armed Israeli soldier approached the bus and immediately there was a reprimand and heated discussion between the soldier and the bus driver.  Meanwhile vehicles of all kinds were moving smoothly past the checkpoint on the right of us.  We sat and we sat with no resolution to the problem at hand.  We learned another Arabic word…..muskula….which basically means “problem” and several people on the bus were saying it.  More soldiers came up to bus, more rude treatment of the bus driver and no resolution to the problem. 

Finally the soldier demanded that the bus driver turn the bus around in the middle of all the traffic and park it.  This required experienced driving abilities on the part of the driver as we were just inches away from other vehicles.  Then we were all ordered out of the bus to the security line.  There were about 50 or more of us standing in the line by that time and the four of us were somewhere in the middle. 

It was windy and cold and there were babies, young and older women, young boys and older men.  Only 3 people at a time managed to get through the first gate.  After that there was a security screen similar to the ones people go through in airports.  We were then required to appear before a heavy glass window to show our identification.  After the four on our team were reassembled we found another #18 bus to make it to our destination—hours after our scheduled meeting.  The 2^nd bus driver did not charge us any fee because he was aware of what had happened on the first bus. 

None of this needed to happen in the first place but it is an explicit example of what Palestinians go through on a daily basis.  They are a very patient people. 

Susanne