freedom of movement

"i'm 26 years old and i've never been to bethlehem." -- sahid, palestinian working at ibdaa cultural center in dheisheh refugee camp

"you don't understand the freedom you have, the incredible freedom.  when i went to the united states for university, the thing that struck me was that i could get in my car and drive for 100 miles.  here, you go 10 km and you get stopped." -- rami, palestinian working at the lutheran health & wellness center

"one of the main issues is the lack of freedom of movement.  the majority of checkpoints are set up within the west bank; they are not even between palestine and israel.  there are only 14 such checkpoints, but in the west bank there are more than 100." -- israeli woman working at b'tselem, the israeli center for information for human rights in the occupied territories

"when you come to visit israel and you go to palestine, you'll pass through a checkpoint and they'll check your passport, maybe look inside your bag, and you'll think, 'it's just like at the airport; what's the big deal?'  what you don't see are the palestinians lining up at 3 o'clock in the morning to get to their job on the other side of the wall.  and what you don't see is the psychological abuse or humiliation they face each time they have to move through a checkpoint.  this is their life.  they are made to become submissive.  this is what is going on."  -- hannah, israeli woman engaged in monitoring checkpoints with machsom watch

the reality of the restrictions on palestinians' freedom of movement has had a lasting effect on me.  the wall seems to be everywhere.  it does not exist on the green line as originally proposed, but weaves in and out of the west bank, at times surrounding entire palestinian villages or securing israeli settlements.  cold and foreboding, its grey concrete stretches 25 feet into the bright blue sky.  razor wire adorns the top along various sections and it is often covered in graffiti.  it's position seems random and arbitrary from what i have seen so far, based on the bits and pieces that are disconnected from the rest, checkpoints that are no longer in use, new segments built in a different section of a town or along a bypass road that, although cutting through palestinian territory, is reserved for the use of israelis...  

i have walked through "terminals" (a new name for some of the newer, "sophisticated" checkpoints) and driven through both permanent checkpoints and flying checkpoints (random roadblocks that are put up temporarily and manned by an israeli soldier or two).  each time i pass without incident, my bus being waved through with an occasional question or two -- is everyone an american?  are there any jews on the bus? (some areas of the west bank are restricted to jews by israeli law.)  i can't help thinking my easy passage is due to the power of a u.s. passport and israeli license plates.  

i have heard countless stories of the difficulties of traveling from one place to another within the west bank or between palestine and jordan, of a trip from bethlehem to nablus taking five or six hours and requiring passage through up to seven checkpoints; from amman, jordan to bethlehem taking 10 hours (the equivalent of flying from the east coast of the u.s. to tel aviv).  and stories of the impossibility of moving between palestine and israel -- of permit  requirements to enter into jerusalem or other parts of israel from the west bank; of being told that one is unable to pass despite having permits.  our guide has a work permit to lead tours throughout israel and palestine that expires every three months.  when i asked what happens in the event he forgets to renew it on time, he laughed and said, "you don't forget to renew. every three months; i never forget."

the israeli government states that this is for security.  some israelis that i have spoken to state that this had to be done: "while it is a shame, we have no choice."  yet i can't fathom the belief that restricting an entire population's freedom of movement can in any way have positive results in the long run.  and there are a lot of people, both palestinian and israeli, who argue loud and clear that it isn't the wall that has brought increased security; rather, they point to shifts in declarations by hamas to end suicide bombings and to statistics that show decline well before the wall went up.  and there are several israelis i have met who say they fear for the future of israel, believing it is on a crash course because of its choices and actions.

despite all of this, i was surprised when a palestinian human rights worker said to me, "the wall is the best thing israel could have done for us.  finally the world is starting to pay attention to what is happening to palestinians.  finally they are saying this is not right."  perhaps he is right.  there is no denying that the wall interferes with the daily life of palestinians.  there is no denying that it is cutting up the west bank into disconnected sections.  there is no denying that the wall is strangling the palestinian economy when stores are cut off from tourists, goods cannot be transported readily, and workers cannot access jobs.