'Anabta, Qalqiliya, Sun 29.3.09, Afternoon
Summary
"The West Bank is under control," writes Shaul Arieli, of the Council for Peace and Security, in today's Haaretz. He probably meant something different from what we experienced today, but the fact is the Occupied Palestinian Territories are under the thumbs of the army, the settlers are doing whatever they so desire, checkpoints are built, taken down and rebuilt, and settler apartheid roads continue apace: the latest, "a bridge over troubled waters," could best describe the road and bridge about to be built between the colonies of Shavei Shomron and Qedumim. Nothing to do with the gentle contours of the land or with the rightful owners of that land. Yes, the West Bank is indeed "under control."
11:55 Gate 1393: Habla
A truck bearing young fig trees with newly burgeoning leaves passes from the far side of the agricultural gate, as do tractors from the other side, or large trucks bearing sand.
An employee of one of the nurseries passes with his bicycle, a few fledgling plants clamped behind his seat. This is somebody we know must pass the gate at least twice a day, if not more. It never ceases to amaze us that, whereas we know the locals, and we come but once a week, the soldiers know nobody. Of course, units change, but each unit is stationed for a period of time at a checkpoint. This is one where there is a paucity of pedestrians or vehicles passing. So, is it possible that the soldiers are just unseeing, that they just don't see the "Other?" That they don't want to bother to recognize people? In this case papers and ID are thoroughly studied; the soldiers do their thing, nothing less, nothing more.
12: 55 Qalqiliya
All four soldiers are at the nearer checking post, little to do, but when we arrive an altercation immediately ensues about where we are allowed to stand: only beyond the red sign, many meters back. But the disagreement is not only with us, it's also between and among the soldiers. One soldier contradicts another. A great example of the kind of discipline for which this army is today becoming well known.
One soldier, I., who has told us he is the commander, is, in fact, not the commander who now appears, a second lieutenant, but he never comes near us. A new batch of soldiers arrives in a Hummer, called, no doubt, on our account. We forgot to mention that all this while the line of traffic into Qaliliya grows. There are now nine soldiers involved with the recalcitrant MachsomWatchers who insist that they can see nothing from behind the red sign whose letter "A" has been whited out (unbeknown to these soldiers who keep insisting that we cannot be in Area A - shades of Oslo).
The second lieutenant, O., of the newly arrived bunch of soldiers has some leadership potential, calls over to the original bunch of four that, no, the police are not to be called. Nevertheless, he says that nobody can stand at the checkpoint and "annoy" the soldiers, and that we cannot be where we are.
We leave, since all this time, soldiers hang about and refrain from going about their designated task. The Palestinian vehicles wait patiently in line, and there are well over two dozen by the time we make our way back to the car. We leave because of the Palestinians, not because we do what the soldiers want.
A great deal of traffic past Nabi Elias, much of it making its way through the back road to Azzun (the earthworks are still at the town's entrance). Besides the earth mounds, there are now kilometers and kilometers of brand new razor wire, its silvery glint catching the sunlight and so showing us that there are stretches of newly cordoned off lands, both west and east of Azzun.
13:40 Anabta
No lines, no huge earthmovers today, just one lone digger at the far, Tulkarm side, so no noise and no wait, newly cleared areas on both sides of the checkpoint: the shape of things to come.
Although many vehicles are not checked at all, a Palestinian Israeli vehicle (yellow license plates) is stopped. A father and his children, one sitting in the front seat with seat belt on is shouted at by one of the two soldiers at the checkpoint post: "It's forbidden for the boy to sit in the front seat" (this is a soldier, not a policeman, talking to -- no, berating -- the father). The father is made to stop the car at the checkpoint and a group of three soldiers, one a woman with a large black notebook, talk to the father, but the woman of the group seems to be joking with him as the car goes on its way.
Meanwhile, we are told to quit the checkpoint, to leave, to be gone and to "stop annoying the soldiers." One of the soldiers, E., who is the commander says he will call the military police (that's a new one for us), and at the same time wants to see what one of us is writing. Evidently, he wants to make certain only that his full name is not being used in our report.
14:05 -- a group of four buses, filled with women and children drive by us, many waving happily: the only sign of cheer on an externally sunny but inwardly gloomy day in the OPT.