I chose to take the way that many Palestinians need to take. When entering the checkpoint, people go up a ramp, then step outside a gate, then re-enter it, then go up another ramp. The passageways are narrow, and above and around them are large, ugly, metal bars. They are herded along up the ramps. Today, there were hundreds of people; according to a Palestinian man who was with me, they numbered about one thousand. Many were coming from Jerusalem, as today was the fourth Friday of Ramadan and many were praying.
People were pressed tightly against each other, for any claustrophobe it would have been an unbearable situation. All the movement was in the hands of the police and soldiers, who would allow only two or three people in at a time. Men, women, the young, the infants, the elderly... all were squeezed together like cattle. We stood in this line for about two and a half hours. Fortunately it wasn't too hot.
The photos I took can hopefully show the overcrowding. What they can't communicate however are the sounds. Some children complaining quietly, then crying. Others being stoic and trying to make the best of it. Babies and infants crying and screaming, their parents unable to do anything to help. Some people snapping at others, losing their wits in the unbearable situation.
It is hard to describe the mass of flesh of human beings being pressed tightly against one another. Some tried to push their way through the crowd, and others almost fell down from the jostling, which could have had potentially dangerous consequences in the mass of people.
The soldiers and police at the end of the checkpoint were impatient with the people. One of them, a short guy with dark hair and a dark mustache, yelled constantly at the men in the line. He saw my camera out and screeched at me to put it away. I did so, not wanting to risk arrest or even worse, him taking out his frustration with me on the people trying to get through.
People were waving their papers. Some were allowed in, others waved away, and after waiting for three hours, had to push their way through the crowd, denied entry to the city. I heard that some people tried to enter Jerusalem illegally... to pray... and were now denied return to their city of birth. I saw a young woman leaving with tears in her eyes.
After some 2.5 hours of this, those of us who were fortunate enough to be allowed through sooner than the others- the guy who yelled at me demanded my passport and once he saw it, let me through right away- had to go up to a CT scanner, where we had to put our bags. Here is the unbelievable part... absolutely no one was guarding it. That's right. My backpack went through and I just took it. No one was checking and no one cared. It is almost as if control over the masses of people was the point. The exercise seems to have more to do with humiliation and power than security.
As I left the building, there was a bored female soldier taking Palestinians' papers and flipping through them, then wordlessly giving them back. The Palestinians had to place their thumbs on a scanner, something we did not have to do.
As terrible as crossing this checkpoint was today, it could have been far worse. It wasn't too hot, unlike some other days. And there were no fatal accidents.
In January of this year, at a similar checkpoint near Tulkarem, a 39 year old Palestinian worker about to enter Israel to work, collapsed and was crushed to death in the mass of people.
http://mondoweiss.net/2015/01/palestinian-crushed-overcrowded-checkpoint
No one died today at Checkpoint 300. However, the suffering and humiliation was very evident.
What I saw today at checkpoint 300 was nothing out of the ordinary, and the scene replays itself day after day all over occupied Palestine.
The politicians who invented this sick system and the soldiers and police who run may be doing everything possible to dehumanize the Palestinian people and make them feel humiliated and defeated, but they fail to realize one important thing- they also dehumanize themselves. Their cruelty and arrogance reflects on their moral failings, not that of their victims.
What Palestinians see as they are about to enter Checkpoint 300.
Getting close to the gates.
Walking up the first ramp (1).
Walking up the first ramp (2). Some people try to climb over to the second ramp to save some time. The police and soldiers sometimes order them to return.
Walking up the first ramp (3). Waiting for the first opening to open.
People entering the second ramp.
Growing crowd of people pushing their way to go to the second ramp.
Going up the second ramp (1).
Going up the second ramp (2).
Going up the second ramp (3). Getting close to the second gate,
Waiting for soldiers and police to let them through. The level of crowding and the sounds are impossible to convey in a photograph.
Pleading with the soldiers and police to let them through.
Soldier and police converse as people grab at the bars and try not to be crushed by others.
Photo taken after I was one of the few allowed through in a relatively quick amount of time. The man in the black uniform with his back to the camera was very rude at the people, yelling at the men in particular.
About to go to the CT Scan and passport/thumbprint (for Palestinians) check.
CT Scan. Notice that no one is checking the bags.
About to enter the passport and thumbprint scan area. I did not take any photos there as I didn't know how the guards would react.
Palestinians, after having gone through the ramps, lining up to enter Bethlehem. That ugly concrete barrier is annexation wall. More on it later in the blog.
Entering Bethlehem, which is controlled by the Palestinian Authority.
Walking into Bethlehem.
Palestinian Authority officer. Though they are not as bad to their people as the Israeli military, they are notoriously corrupt and often collaborate with the occupation. I have equal respect for them, the Israeli government, and Hamas. All three groups have been denounced by human rights groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch for war crimes and abuses of civilians.
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