Friday, May 11, 2012

Checkpoints

I'm sure that my faithful blog readers have been dying to know what it's like for me to pass through a military checkpoint every day. What, exactly, does one do when passing through a military checkpoint? (And why would someone ever choose to do it every day?) I am quite aware that this could turn into a controversial political conversation about the need for checkpoints or the need for a separation barrier or the suffering of the Palestinians, etc. etc. Personally, checkpoints are not my favorite place in the world to hang out, and some days I feel that each checkpoint crossing takes another 6 months off of my life. Some days I get so angry that it takes me several hours to recover from the crossing. But, let's try to keep this post light, shall we? You don't all need to know about my anger problems or anything else. This, hopefully, will be an educational post to give you an idea of what checkpoints are like. And while there are many checkpoints between the West Bank and Israeli territory, as well as within the West Bank itself, I will focus on the Bethlehem 300 (Rachel's Tomb) checkpoint.

This is a (very) rough sketch of the Bethlehem checkpoint. I know, my Paint skills are incredible. I kept it this unprofessional just in case I really am being spied on. There's no way that anyone could accuse me of passing along dangerous information with this drawing. :) (Just for reference, the dark boxes are soldier's booths, the x's are turnstiles, and the arrows are directions of traffic. The numbered areas are different smaller checkpoints within the checkpoint.)

When approaching the checkpoint from the Bethlehem side, this is what you see:

There is a big wall and a long line stretching about 100 meters. I'm not really sure how to describe the path that you walk down--I always call it "the cattle stalls" because I feel a bit like an animal being contained in a holding pen until I can cross checkpoint #1 (labeled on my drawing).


Here is a view of the inside of the middle "stall." I thought the smoke made for a dramatic touch photographically, and it also adds a nice picture of reality. When you're stuck in line here and 40% of the men are smoking, or even just one person who is standing in your close vicinity, there's no way to escape. Many days I have arrived to the university smelling like I, myself, smoked 6 packs just that morning.

There are three "lanes" or stalls or whatever leading up to the checkpoint #1. I have labelled them with arrows that signify which direction they go: the one closest to the wall is for those coming in to Bethlehem, while the two outer ones are for those leaving to go into Jerusalem.

When the checkpoint is crowded (mostly early in the morning), the men use the middle lane and women, children, old people, sick people on their way to the hospital, and tourists use the "express" lane. Many mornings when I have crossed I have seen the line of men (2-3 across within the lane) stretching all the way back to the taxi area. On those days, I'm so glad that I can use the lane for women.

Of course, there are no signs telling you if the middle lane is crowded with men or is open (it's impossible to see all the way in from the entrance by the taxis) and there is also no sign at the bottom telling you if the women/elderly/tourist lane is open or not. There are turnstiles at the top (the x's on the diagram), and if they aren't open (they are controlled by the soldiers who sit in the blue boxes on the diagram--every dark box is a station where soldiers sit), you have to wait until the soldier unlocks it for you. Some days, for reasons beyond my imagination, they decide not to open the women/elderly/tourist checkpoint. Which is always frustrating because I usually find that out after walking all the way up. As there is no way to cross from the tourist lane into the middle lane at the top, I have to walk all the way back down to the bottom and then back up through the middle lane. On rainy days this inspires less than happy thoughts from me.

On days that the women/elderly lane (I will call this lane #3) is closed because the middle lane is open and free, you just walk up the middle lane, pass through checkpoint #1, and continue to the next one. However, some days lane #3 is closed but there are still lots and lots of men filling lane #2. Thankfully, it doesn't happen that often, but when it does there is a "rule of chivalry" that states that women get to pass through to the front of the line. Although I'm sure not every man is thrilled with this "rule," if there are women standing at the back of the line the sea of men will part and allow the women to pass through. If some men don't see (or don't want to move) and the women (there are usually only 1-4 at a time) have to stop, a man standing by will always shout, "Clear the way, guys, we have some women coming through." It is always incredibly embarrassing and incredibly gratifying at the same time. I will be the first to admit that there are a lot of problems regarding the treatment of women in the Middle East. But this idea that women should not have to wait in line with hundreds of men but instead should cut to the front is an awesome one, in my opinion. And although I was terrified the first time I had to pass through a narrow space surrounded by hundreds of men, knowing how vulnerable I was, they always press themselves against the side and try to give us as much space as possible so we can pass through without touching anyone or being touched.

When you get to checkpoint #1, there is a soldier sitting in a booth (don't worry, it's completely enclosed and bullet-proof, giving as little contact as possible with those passing through) to whom you show your id/passport. This is more of a "just checking to make sure you have it before you go through to the next stations" kind of checkpoint. And if it's possible to have a favorite checkpoint soldier, there is a soldier who is often at this checkpoint in the morning that is my favorite. He speaks Arabic (most of the soldiers don't) and stands outside of the booth checking ids. He greets the people coming through (in Arabic) and is usually smiling. And whenever I go through he says "morning," in English, all nice and pleasant like. 

After checkpoint number one, you walk across an empty parking lot and enter building #2.


You walk down some more lanes and enter the area of checkpoint #2. Checkpoint #2's area is divided into three different checkpoints, all of which lead to the same place. Here, again, when there are lots of men in the morning, the women duck through separator bars and cut to the front of the lines. The men step back and clear the way for the women (usually just one or two in each line at a time--mostly men cross early in the morning), which, again, is great and saves me so much time and frustration.

Usually, the wait time at the turnstile at checkpoint #2 is short and predictable. The soldiers (who can't be seen from the line waiting outside the turnstile, as they sit in the booths inside; don't worry, they can see everything going on because there are cameras everywhere) open the turnstile, let three people through, and then lock it while they put their stuff on a conveyor belt scanner and pass through a metal detector, grab their stuff, and proceed to checkpoint #3. If there are any problems, the soldiers get on the loudspeaker from inside the booth and tell the person to go through again, take the belt off, it's the shoes, etc. Sometimes they even do it in Arabic, although I think most of them only know a few key phrases ("one at a time!" seems to be the most popular Arabic phrase spoken here).

Sometimes, however, for reasons that none of us are made aware of, there is a wait at checkpoint #2. Maybe the soldiers are switching posts. Maybe they need a bathroom break. Maybe they are just tired of sitting there and need to walk around. But whatever the reasoning, they don't say anything. They just keep the turnstile locked, and all of us outside the turnstile get more and more restless. If this were a customer service situation, I would suggest that they announce over the loudspeaker that there will be a delay of about 10 minutes and they apologize for the inconvenience. But it's not a customer service situation, it's a military checkpoint, so I guess such a suggestion is unnecessary.

Once you get through checkpoint #2, you proceed to checkpoint #3. This checkpoint has the least delays. The Palestinians have a magnetic id and a paper permit that shows that they are allowed to cross into Jerusalem. They put their id on the magnetic strip, hold up their paper to the window (the soldiers are sitting in booths), and sometimes have to put their hand on the fingerprint reader. The magnetic card reader allows all of the information and picture of the person to show up on the soldier's computer screen, and if everything is ok they are cleared to go through. Foreigners show their passport and visa stamp and are then also allowed to pass through.

Some mornings go smoothly and I get through in less than 10 minutes. But some mornings, by the time I get through I'm ready to go to bed and wish the day was over already!

Has anyone else ever been through checkpoints (besides airport security)? And what was it like?

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Noelle's Visit

In March my friend Noelle came to stay with me. 

As usual, there were a lot of crazy and bizarre things that happened. Here's just a small sampling:

*We spent some time up at the Sea of Galilee. One day we stopped by the "Baptism of Jesus" site (the one on the Israeli side--the Jordanians have one too) where pilgrims often visit to be "reborn" and baptized, even if they have already been baptized. They put on these (incredibly see-through) long white t-shirts, all get down into the water, sing and pray, and then do some sort of immersion in the water. Just make sure you look away when they get out.


I was taking advantage of Noelle's willingness to be a subject for a photo shoot, because the lighting was perfect and, well, she's stunning and much more photogenic than me.



And then, we saw beavers swimming in the water. BEAVERS! They became the new subject of the photo shoot.


I think they liked getting their picture taken, because they came up out of the water and came right up to Noelle to play with her!


It was crazy! They played with Noelle for several minutes, but we quickly attracted a large crowd of curious tourists and so the beavers left (or maybe they just realized that we didn't have any food!).

*We stayed at this very cheap hotel in Tiberias. I'm pretty sure we were the only guests that night. We made the booking while we were at the "free wi-fi" national park of Caesaria, and we just picked the cheapest hotel we could find while searching the internet on our phones. At about 6 pm, I got a call from the hotel. "Hey," they said, "what time are you guys planning on coming by tonight? We've got your room all made up and ready for you!"

It was only a little creepy. When we got to the hotel, the two hotel managers were sitting at the front desk. Before they showed us to our room, they were telling us about the attractions around town and, as it always does in conversations with me, the fact came up that we're Mormon. These guys were just floored and super curious as to what we do to "have fun" if we don't drink coffee, tea, or alcohol. One of them asked, "So what do Mormons do when they just want to lose all control?" I thought it was a rather odd way to ask such a question, so I answered with some snarky remark about ice cream and barbeques. They were pretty hilarious, though, and definitely added to the culture of the rather ghetto hotel.



They gave us the "best room in the hotel"--one of only two with a balcony overlooking the street (and a few blocks away, the sea of Galilee!). And the back of the hotel was full of character--just go up those creepy metal stairs and you're in the lobby!


Like I said, Noelle is much more photogenic than me. While a jumping picture of her turns into an excited, "look I'm on the shore of the Mediterranean!", mine just turns into "I love disco."


I introduced her to the finer Middle Eastern cuisine. And by that I mean pita and hummus. :) My coworker Rakheli met us for dinner one night, where Noelle could finally eat real food: tuna steak.


I wanted to take Noelle to see the Dead Sea, but I didn't want to drive all the way to the beaches by Masada. As a poor student, I am opposed to paying much for anything, but I am especially opposed to paying Israeli institutions for things in the West Bank on moral grounds. You might disagree, and that's fine. The fact of the matter is, we stopped by this beach on the Northern edge of the Dead Sea. I really just wanted to be able to walk down to the shore so Noelle could see it, so when I saw a security guard walking by, I asked him (in Hebrew), "Can we just walk down and see the sea from around here?" He looked me up and down, glanced over at Noelle, and then said, "Come with me."

He walked into the beach area and we followed, where he pointed us down to the water. It was an awesome beach, with delightful mud and old people who were definitely not averse to changing out of their swimming suits right there on the beach. The whole time I kept telling Noelle, "I can't believe this beach is free! I totally would have brought my sister here if I had known!"



After several minutes, we were ready to be done. As we were walking out, I happened to glance over at the sign hanging on the wall of the reception desk. The normal admittance price was 50 shekels per person!!! I told Noelle the security guard let us in for free because she's Asian, because I never get freebies like that!

And of course, no visit to see me would be complete without deep discussions of and visits to controversial areas, like the Kidron Valley and the Herodian.


I can see the Herodian from my house, but I've never actually been. It was freezing cold and super windy when we went, which might explain for the lack of visitors. While Noelle was distracted by the rock piles, I was distracted by the settlements.


*I've always wanted to go shopping with someone that spoke another language besides English, Arabic, or Hebrew (meaning Chinese, since that is the only other language I speak), so I could bargain with the shopkeepers in Arabic and speak Chinese to my friend and we would NEVER have to speak English. And we would get a super cheap deal. (Everything is more expensive in English.) Well, when Noelle was here, I finally had my chance. And it was AWESOME. We went shopping in the Old City and I would bargain with the shopkeepers in Arabic and then tell Noelle in Chinese that it was way too much and she should shake her head no. And it totally worked, too. One guy dropped the price of a silk scarf from 200 shekels down to 65, so Noelle decided to buy it. He totally had his son chase after us with the scarf when we walked away because the price was too high and offer us a better deal.

It was great fun, Noelle, and I'm so glad you had a chance to come and visit!