The Death of Dignity….
New Bethlehem 300 Checkpoint
Reflections by Rev. Sandra Olewine and Ms. Anette Klasing
Palestinians waiting to get checked at the newly opened checkpoint at the entrance to the West Bank city of Bethlehem November 15, 2005. (MAANnews/Inbal Rose)
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For about the last 18 months, the new entry point has been slowly developing as the Segregation Wall around the north edge of the city continued to grow. The opening was delayed numerous times but 15 November, Palestinian Independence Day, and amidst the story of an agreement about the Gaza crossing to Egypt being struck, this new checkpoint came into ‘business,’ with little to no notice by the international community. But it was noticed in Bethlehem. Across town that day all I heard from shop keepers, falafel stand owners and hotel workers alike was “No one will want to come to Bethlehem now. No tourist group is going to want to wait two hours to have their bags checked and searched when leaving our town. Just when tourists were beginning to come back, they do this to us!” The economic destruction that the new opening means was the first thought on many local people’s minds!
I first went through the terminal on a Saturday evening, coming from Jerusalem, a couple of days after it went into use. There were no signs posted to explain where one was to walk. I asked one of the soldiers and he said he wasn’t sure but told us to go to an opening a few feet away. My friend and I wove our way up the fenced walk way and entered the terminal. There were a series of glassed booths awaiting us, seemingly empty. After raising our voices a bit and asking where we were supposed to go and do, a sleeping soldier awoke in the first booth and told us to come to him. He seemed dismayed that we were there. “Who sent you here? Do you know where you are?” When I explained that I knew where I was and not lost, he then asked, “What is in Bethlehem to see?” When I told him many wonderful things, he rolled his eyes and continued to make fun of our wish to enter the city. After a few minutes of his bantering, he handed back our passports and told us to go. The entry passages are not yet completed, so we walked out a side door back to the outside, walking around the building.
As we came around the corner I was stopped dead in my tracks by my first view of the huge solid metal gate that can slide across the opening in the Wall. It is about 6 – 8 inches thick and is almost 8 meters high, as the Wall is. It was a sickening sight. I had never felt as strongly that I was about to enter the Bethlehem prison than I did as I saw the massive structure that could seal the city off from the outside world. How the world can think this is normal or justified by security concerns is beyond me.
The next day gave me the first taste of passing through the new construction to go from Bethlehem to Jerusalem on foot. Again, no signs are visible to explain what one is to do. In fact the only readily visible sign is one that instructs people to keep the place clean! There were a group of tourists in line outside a locked turnstile, so my friends and I got in line with them. After about five minutes, a green light went on above the turnstile and people were allowed to pass through. Immediately on the other side of the first turnstile another one awaited us and then a metal dictator and then another turnstile. All of which can be locked with people between the turnstiles! Your passage through this maze is controlled by a series of green and red lights. In a matter of less than 20 feet, you pass through 3 turnstiles and a metal detector.
One finally reaches the bottom of the ramp way and enters into the building, where a fourth turnstile awaits you. Here you wait until those in front are allowed passage a few at a time by a soldier sitting in a darkened glass booth. While you’re waiting your turn, if you happen to look up, you’ll see a metal catwalk where a young soldier with machine gun patrols above the waiting lines. As I went through each turnstile, I could feel myself becoming angrier and angrier, but when I looked up and saw the patrolling soldier, I was beyond angry. The insanity of the whole situation was just too much. I think my friends walking through with me were glad the soldiers were out of reach….
As a few persons are buzzed through this fourth and final turnstile, again watching for the red and green lights, everyone has to put all of their belongings on an x-ray machine and then walk through a 2nd metal detector. Once through here you finally come to the control booths, where passports and ID cards are checked.
That afternoon, we were all foreigners in line, so the final check was perfunctory. Our wait was about 25 minutes that day. Some tour groups, though, have reported waiting over 2 hours to be processed out of the terminal. If this becomes a regular pattern, the people in Bethlehem will be right – tourists will stay away, especially those who choose to spend the night in the city. But, maybe that’s the point of it all anyway…
Rev. Sandra Olewine
United Methodist Liaison
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Palestinians at the newly opened checkpoint at the entrance to the West Bank city of Bethlehem November 15, 2005. (MAANnews/Inbal Rose)
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“Human dignity doesn’t exist for the people in Bethlehem?”
After 15 months of living and working in Bethlehem and just ‘in time’ for the arrival of my German group from the ‘LidiceHaus’ (Seminar Center in Bremen), the new ‘Terminal’ - which replaced the former checkpoint - ‘opened’ the entrance gates to Bethlehem. The terms ‘terminal’ and ‘open’ are really nice words for the treatment of people whose only ‘fault’ is to be a Palestinian citizen of Bethlehem or to be someone who wants to visit Bethlehem.
First of all, I tried to find out where to go and how to reach the exit in order to go to Jerusalem. The big sign with several pieces of advice and a closing note, ‘Go in Peace’ didn’t help my mood at all. I discovered, as I came to the first ‘rotation gate’ that I had to pass through, that I was stuck at the gate. It wouldn’t budge. I started to look around for people to ask. Suddenly I heard a voice from far off speaking to me: ‘You have to wait until the door will be opened’. I couldn’t see anyone, but in this moment I noticed the red and green lights above the gate. “Okay, this is like a traffic light,” I thought to myself and continued on my way. Amazing, two more gates followed.
Why? Where you can escape inbetween the three gates? What kind of sense is behind this ‘logic’? A lot of questions without answers came up for me.
After passing these gates I reached the ‘control point’ (the soldier behind glass front). There, a very young soldier tried to cope with the new software of the control machine, without success. Some Palestinians who already were waiting in front of me became impatient – like me. The soldier started phoning his officer – and nothing moved forward. As time passed, I became nervous because I had to get to the airport. After some minutes, I started to argue and complain – eventually raising my voice. This just made the soldier nervous as well.
In the moment when he realized I had an International Passport he advised me to pass immediately – and opened the last gate for me. I felt miserable and ashamed because I was allowed to pass – and all the other people had still to wait. Before I left the ‘terminal’ I heard a voice speaking to me in German: ‘I wish you a nice stay in Israel.’ It was the German soldier from Berlin standing above me on the metal elevated walkway. Those of us who are German living and working here all know him. He likes to ‘teach’ us the ‘correct behaviour’ at the checkpoint. In former times, he experienced military service at the Berlin wall and he likes to talk about his ‘military knowledge.’ This was definitely too much for me and I felt my anger coming up. I rushed ahead to get to the airport in time to meet my group.
For my German colleagues, when they entered Bethlehem, this was the first time any of them actually saw the Wall with their own eyes. They were shattered and shocked. One of them remarked, ‘I have seen so many photos of the Wall. I thought because of our Berlin wall, I wouldn’t be shocked so much. But this is more than I ever thought.’
My colleges spent five days in Bethlehem and had to pass numerous times through the new checkpoint. “Human dignity doesn’t seem to exist for the people in Bethlehem. This is a terrible feeling,” said one colleague later. “I’m deeply touched by all I saw here. I feel confused and sad,” said another woman. “How we can transmit all what we saw? Will the people in Bremen believe us?” another remarked. Back in Bremen, the group will meet together again in mid-December to prepare a public letter and an exhibition about their Bethlehem experiences. The lose of human dignity will surely be evident in their presentation.
Ms. Anette Klasing
Civil Peace Worker
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Palestinians waiting to get checked at the newly opened checkpoint at the entrance to the West Bank city of Bethlehem November 15, 2005. (MAANnews/Inbal Rose)
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How Do We Get Out?
After ICB’s international conference, a few participants remained for some days in order to see more of the country, to learn more about the realities on the ground and to have time with friends. Those that stayed past 15 November were exposed to how fast ‘facts on the ground’ can change. When they arrived on 5 November, they drove in their vans on the main road into Bethlehem through a section of the Wall left open. But, by the time they left that opening had been shut by a metal gate and the new ‘terminal’ was in use, closing the historic entrance to Bethlehem to all but a few dignitaries which the Israeli military will let through occasionally.
For the time being, internationals leaving Bethlehem area by car can avoid the new structure by going through the DCO in Beit Jala. But, this exit closes at 10 pm. So if you have to leave the city in the night and before 6 am, the ‘terminal’ is now the only option. One conference participant had to leave Bethlehem at 3 am in order to catch an early morning departure from Ben Gurion airport. The driver picked him up 30 minutes earlier than normal to make sure there was enough time to deal with the new realities at the entrance of Bethlehem.
When they arrived at the ‘terminal,’ they were shocked. The huge, solid 30 foot high metal gate was shut, literally closing the wall and the exit from Bethlehem completely. One other car, also needing to go to the airport, was there waiting. Not a single Israeli soldier was in sight. How do you argue with a metal gate and cement wall that towers over you?
The cars began to honk their horns to try to get someone’s attention. Surely, the Palestinians living near this massive new structure must have been pleased! After a few minutes a soldier appeared. The Palestinians drivers (who both have Jerusalem ID cards which allow them to leave Bethlehem) explained why they needed to get out at the time of the morning. Time passed as they explained again and again that they were taking people to the airport. Finally, the soldier gave the okay for them to leave. But, they had one more task to do - they had to help the soldiers open the massive gate structure before the cars could continue on their journey. Then, they could finally get out…
Rev. Sandra Olewine
United Methodist Liaison - Jerusalem