Have you ever been on the highway and passed a crowded cattle truck full of steers being taken to market? Have you ever looked into the eyes of one of them? That image came to mind this morning when we arrived about 5:10 a.m. at the main Bethlehem checkpoint to observe the treatment of the Palestinians who lined up to pass through to do work or other business that is approved by the Israeli government. The checkpoint had been closed for two days due to the Jewish holiday of Purim so many people, mostly men, had missed at least one day’s pay and this morning there were hundreds there waiting to get through. Theywere generally orderly as they were squeezed against each other in the narrow 4 foot wide barred covered walkway leading to the turnstiles. As I walked up the humanitarian line which was more accessible, I looked in at the people and felt such sorrow at what I saw in their eyes and about the entire situation. Here are people who simply are trying to earn a living for their families and they are being treated like animals. They are entirely at the mercy of the Israeli soldiers who operate the checkpoint.
The checkpoint was slow in opening and the first man in line had been there since 2 a.m. The line stretched far beyond the entry to the covered entrance and people kept coming and coming by taxi or by foot to make their way to work. In addition there is an humanitarian line through which women, the elderly, disabled persons, persons with special papers, those who work for hospitals and churches may enter. That normally opens at 4 a.m. but today it did not open until about 7 and even then, the turnstyle only periodically opened. Meanwhile anxious faces peered out at us from the lines of those newly arrived and from behind the bars in the trough leading to the turnstile.
We were met at the checkpoint by the Rev Richard Ilewellin, a retired Anglican bishop, who is a voluntary observer with the World Council of Churches program called the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI). What a delightful man! His good humor and experience were invaluable in helping us digest what we were witnessing. Before coming for a three month stay to do this observation, he had undergone training led by Quakers. In addition to the observing, he also goes to villages to document injustices occuring there. EAPPI workers also must commit to three months of work after returning home; they are to give ten major talks about what they have witnessed and work therefore to educate people about the oppression of the Palestinians.
Working as a team, Richard and another EAPPI volunteer, observe both at the entrance to the checkpoint and then at the booths through which each person has to pass after having gone through a metal detector. At the booth, the commuter must present his Israeli paper permit, his identification card, and put his hand in a reader that brings up the person’s picture and information on a computer. If all is well, the person is permitted to pass on into Israel. The workers literally run after having finally reached the first turnstile and crowd into the lines for the metal detector. Prior to that they have removed their shoes, belts, etc. Once through the metal detector, they race to the booths. Imagine being the main breadwinner of your familly (and Palestinians have large families) and needing every hour of labor you can get. The average pay for a basic laborer is 150 shekels a day or $35. More skilled workers may make $90 per day.
On the Israeli side are women who also observe. They are Israelis who oppose the Occupation of Palestine and are there to report any ill treatment of the Palestinians. Usually they are older women. We met two of them this morning. They are part of Machsom, an organization 300 strong. (Look at www.machsomwatch.com)
In order to have an idea of the whole process, we went through the checkpoint, too, but waited until a majority of the people had made it through because we did not want to deter their progress in getting to work. Because we were tourists, we were allowed in the Humanitarian line and we got through pretty readily though there was a wait at the turnstile. A policeman who does not even see you electronically opens the turnstile and allows a small number of people through at a time. Our group of six did not all get through at once. All went smoothly for us but we did see some people who were turned back. After meeting and chatting with the Machsom women, we came back through to the Palestinian side. As we did so, we saw that the line to enter Israel was greatly reduced. We bade farewell to Richard, and headed back to the hotel via taxi. We arrived back about 7:50 a.m. in time to grab some breakfast before heading out for another productive day of VIM work and more education about our environs and agencies at work here but sobered by what we had seen and haunted by the faces peering out behind the bars as they waited for entry to the country that has imprisoned them. Richard later gave us the daily log figures: by 8:00 a.m., 2,600 persons had gone through the checkpoint with another 150 waiting in the que. This was a very crowded, frustrating day for many, many hardworkers in Palestine.
In Christ,
Gene and Lois
This has been a sobering day for most of the members of our group. Gene, Lois, Marilyn, Mary Beth, Penny went to the check point leading to Jerusalem this morning and watched as the Palestinians tried to get through to go to 
work, school, job hunting, etc. I’ll let one of them write about that experience, but it was definitely eye opening for those that ventured out at 5am this morning.
Carol Garwood
umpalestinetrip 