afternoon

In spite of declarations to the opposite, the conditions at the checkpoints for the Palestinians have not been eased in any way but in fact made decidedly worse. There was a very long traffic block and a lorry with frozen meat in it was not allowed to pass…in fact the meat was unpacked and put on to a wooden wagon….this in spite of the fact that food and medicines were actually allowed to be sent through freely to Ramallah. On the side of the checkpoint there is what passes for a path….very muddy and is not covered over whenever it rains. When we asked Shadi the reason and the reply was that the bypass is there to protect the soldiers so that they should not be attacked in the back by anyone coming from Jerusalem which is sheer nonsense. There is a butke [booth] with a soldier overlooking anyone coming from that direction and also from the sides. There is no easy path for woman, children and anyone handicapped. The line is very long and crowded and everyone is stuck in there together for a long period. An older man, respectable in a suit….says to us “You women of the MachsomWatch should be ashamed of yourselves….you are only here for the appearance of the thing and to make things look better. He pointed to the soldiers and said “Your boys are crazier than our children. You should be ashamed, you should be ashamed!”No one without a pass is allowed through. No humanitarian reasons and no one with a medical pass was allowed through. A man in a wheelchair was not allowed through and an old man who came on crutches with his grandson even though the latter begged to just be allowed to take him to the southern side where people were waiting for him. At last a soldier offered to take him through but the grandson was very worried and eventually got permission to go through at a run to see that all was well. When he came back we could see the worry on his face as with the crowd on the other side he had not been able to find him. One of the soldiers was particularly disgusting. These are some of the pearls that came from his mouth: “You are those who would live and let live. We are here to make their lives difficult, let them wait, so what, they should not be allowed out at all. These are Arabs, terrorists, animals. We must do everything against them. The state of Israel. I don’t give a damn. I am here to blow people up. Why should I speak decently to them….like to my mother. If she was my mother I would cut her throat”.