'Atara, Qalandiya, Wed 17.12.08, Afternoon

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Observers: 
Ruthy Barkai, Marta S and Ivonne Mansbach (reporting)
Dec-17-2008
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Afternoon
Seriously? Does this make us safer?
Qalandya: 

It has been a long time since
I last witnessed such a painful sight at a checkpoint.  A severely
disabled man in his late 30s, probably a victim of polio in both legs
and moving his legs (cannot say 'walking') with the help of 2 wooden
crutches, tried to cross the Qalandya checkpoint from north to south.
 

As we approached the vehicle
roundabout at the northern part of the Qalandya checkpoint, we saw a
very disabled man descending from a Palestinian minibus in the middle
of the roundabout.  It was strange that he was descending there,
because the ground was full of big stones and it was difficult for him
to stand straight.  He turned around and started to throw one leg
in front of the other and in that way, advance towards the checking
booth.  He had tried to cross the checkpoint inside the minibus,
but the soldiers checking the vehicles ordered the bus driver to take
him back to the northern side so that he would cross the pedestrian
checkpoint, which is quite far for someone who is as disabled as this
man.  The rationale for this was that he didn't have the right
papers to go through the vehicle checkpoint but only to go through the
pedestrian checkpoint.  It is not that the soldiers checking the
vehicles do not have the appropriate means to examine anyone's identity
papers but it is a matter of bureaucracy or rather, of 'order' that
has to be respected, that determines who checks what. 
 

The man started moving slowly
towards the vehicle checkpoint from where he came.  He examines
the long distance he has to go if he is to reach the pedestrian checkpoint
and the very short distance if he goes through the vehicle checkpoint
and decides to go slowly but surely towards the soldiers and guards
checking the vehicles.  During his painful journey he is accompanied
by the shouting from the loudspeaker at the pillbox tower: "Go
back, go back".  As he continues to advance without stopping
(he would probably fall is he looses momentum) the guard at the tower
decides to operate a loud siren, which mainly frightens women and children
but doesn't concern the soldiers at all.
 

After an almost endless 5 minutes
he arrives at the checking booth.  We could not approach the soldiers
at the vehicle checking booth but didn't see him return and imagine
he was allowed to go through.  But why did he have to pull himself
all that distance?  Why couldn't a severely disabled man, a clearly
"humanitarian" case, travel in the bus?  Who are these
people who ordered him to "walk" all that distance?
 

Atara:

When we reached Atara checkpoint
soldiers were not checking cars in any direction but a few minutes later
an army jeep with officers arrived and then the checking started. 
We left around 4:30 p.m. and went to Qalandya.