Theatre of the Absurd
11. THEATER OF THE ABSURDBy Gideon Levy Haaretz
(Israel) December 16, 2005
Irja.
The time has come for all of us to become familiar with thisword. There is no checkpoint soldier who doesn't know it, there isno Palestinian who hasn't heard it. "Irja!" roars the soldier atthe person whom he is preventing from crossing the checkpoint -i.e., go back, get out of here. "Irja" to the man carrying theinjured child, who wants to bring him home. "Irja" to theconstruction engineer who wants to get to work. "Irja" to themother carrying her baby on the way to visiting her parents. "Irja"to the old man who wants to visit his grandchildren.The theater of the absurd of the occupation is giving rise to a newscene, reminiscent of an older one. Last Thursday, Yosef Abu-A'adi,29, stabbed and killed soldier Nir Kahana at the Qalandiyahcheckpoint. The checkpoint was closed immediately, and for the pastweek, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been unable tocross it.
Qalandiyah, we should mention here, is a"mega-checkpoint" in the territories, not between the territoriesand Israel. The cruel collective punishment that was ordered lastweek - there's no other way to describe it - condemns tens ofthousands of innocent people, who are already in a bad way, to manymore days of harassment.Is the checkpoint closed? Not really. It can be crossed. Not bywalking a few hundred meters, as usual, but via a very costly andprolonged ride in a taxi - 50 kilometers and an hour and a half ineach direction - to bypass the closed checkpoint, involving a tripalmost all over the West Bank. You drive north, in order to drivesouth for a few hundred meters, until you reach the other side ofthe checkpoint. Is this not collective punishment?
Soon the new Qalandiyah crossing will be dedicated: a virtualcheckpoint city with the suffocating separation wall alongside,impressively organized international lanes for passage with parkingplaces for the disabled - the comfortable occupation. Stones fromthe Golan Heights beautify the plazas, and there's a large signthat someone has planted here with great chutzpah, proclaiming "Thehope of us all," with a picture of a red rose next to it. Therenovated checkpoint that cuts the occupied West Bank in half willbe "the hope of us all."In the mini-bus taxi in which we traveled this week, to experiencethe absurdity of driving dozens of kilometers in order to bypassthe closed checkpoint, it says in Hebrew "Do not despair." But thiswinter in Qalandiyah, which the Israel Defense Forces likes to call"a crossing," continues to be a very depressing one.
The mountains of garbage, the sand, the barbed wire and theconcrete blocks that were placed here last Thursday prevent anypossibility of crossing by car. If there's a murder in Tel Aviv, isall of Tel Aviv placed under siege? If there's a stabbing in Haifa,is all of Haifa imprisoned? But here in the territories anythinggoes: a murder in Qalandiyah, and half the West Bank is underdetention.
The Palestinian press reports on this checkpoint everyday on the front pages, but who in Israel has heard about it? Who is even interested?A young man carrying his nephew, a child whose entire leg isencased in a cast, approaches the concrete blocks with the barbedwire strung between them. The Border Policeman, out of greathumanity, allows the injured child to return home; after all, Israel allows "humanitarian cases" to cross, as has beenpublicized. However, the uncle, who is carrying him in his arms, isnot a "humanitarian case." The child cannot stand up. The uncleputs him down like an object on the concrete block, before theunfeeling eyes of the policeman: "I'll take him only up to the carand I'll come back," pleads the uncle, but the Border Policeman isnot affected by any of this: "Irja."
A line of cars that are forced to head back where they came from,traffic jams and loud honking of horns. A young man sits in a whiteVW Polo, pointing to the scars on his face. On the last holiday asoldier hit him there. The man says that he tried to convince thesoldier to allow the man's brother to join him for a holiday visitto their family - and the reply was blows with the rifle butt.Everyone here bears the scars of the checkpoint.A social worker from the Red Crescent in Ramallah, a volunteer who specializes in treating the emotionally scarred, tries in vain toshow the Border Policeman his volunteer certificate from thehumanitarian organization, as well as the newspaper clipping inwhich it says that "humanitarian cases" are allowed to cross."Irja."
The emotionally scarred in Ramallah can wait. An easing of the closure: Starting on Sunday, Israel allowedresidents of East Jerusalem to cross at Qalandiyah, but not theresidents of Ramallah or the West Bank, of course. We cross onfoot. In the filthy tunnel at the crossing, a young man walkstoward us, returning to where he came from, his face contorted inanger: "They're sons of bitches." Issa had smoked a cigarette at the checkpoint, the soldier orderedhim to put it out and then, when he tossed the cigarette butt intothe garbage that is scattered all over the ground, the soldierordered him to collect all the cigarette butts from the checkpoint."I don't work for you," said the young man - and gave up his rightto cross. "This whole business of the stabbing was not a simple matter," says Issa, a Jerusalemite. "It was probably a man whosuffered a great deal at this checkpoint. It's not a small matter, for a man to stab a soldier."
"Are they letting people cross?" asks a passerby."They're letting people cross, but humiliating them," replies Issa.In a blue Golf sits a Jerusalem woman with a baby on her lap. Shehas been standing at the eastern part of the crossing, where cars from Jerusalem are allowed to leave Ramallah along the bypassroute. She took the baby out of his car seat, after his cryingcould be heard far and wide. Already an hour at the checkpoint, andthe end is not in sight. A visit to Grandma and Grandpa.Three young children are returning from their private school totheir homes in the Qalandiyah refugee camp.
Every day they cross here on the way to school and back; Israel allows them to passthrough. The sixth-graders see what is happening at the checkpoint, their hearts filled with love of Zion. Subahi, Samer and Yasser gotout of school early today. The soldiers did not allow the gymteacher or the science teacher to cross.
Meanwhile, the woman with the baby is still waiting in the blue Golf. The mother straps her baby into his seat; there are only twocars still ahead of her at the checkpoint, an hour and a half afterher arrival.Elderly Jedda Darwish has an American passport and a valid touristvisa for Israel. He's allowed to walk around freely in Tel Aviv,but not to cross Qalandiyah, American or not. "Irja."
The entire West Bank is now becoming covered with phosphorescentyellow vests. A new ruling that will come into effect in Israelshortly will require every driver to wear this glowing garment whenhe leaves his car at night on the road. West Bank drivers, whosesafety is especially important to Israel, have rushed to buy vestsfrom the many peddlers on the sides of the roads: They know thatthey will be the first ones to get ticketed for violations. At theQalandiyah checkpoint they cost NIS 15 each. Instructions for use:"This vest must be worn closed only, for the safety of the wearer.It should not be put in a clothes dryer. It should not be washedmore than 15 times. It should not be used for the followingpurposes: protection from fire, chemical substances, cold,electricity or other dangers."It's 12:25 P.M. and our taxi finally gets moving.
Inside are some angry-looking people who are now being forced to pay NIS 15 eachand to kill an hour and a quarter, not including the long waituntil the taxi fills up - just to reach the other side of theQalandiyah checkpoint. On the right is the Qalandiyah refugee camp.We are driving into Ramallah, passing by the homes of El Bireh, onour long trip. The passengers are wrapped in silence. What is thereto say?
They absorb the humiliation of this stupid excursion, and keep quiet.Feingold & Son assembled the seats of the shabby van. A passportphoto of the driver's son, a son of refugees from Qalandiyah, ishanging above his head, alongside the little green fir tree thatonce gave off a scent. The driver's face is angry, too, althoughsince the closing of the checkpoint he has more work.The Best Eastern Hotel in Ramallah.
The city is trying to create aninternational impression. To reach southern Ramallah we travelnorth. Very far north. Then east, and then again south. The villageof Sudra, the site of one of the crueler checkpoints in the WestBank, which has been removed. And Abu Kash, a large percentage of whose inhabitants have emigrated to America. In the window of one of the stores we pass, there is a display of exercise equipment. Toour left is the pleasant campus of Bir Zeit University; indeedwe've already arrived in the town of Bir Zeit, where most of the population is Christian. Tour and enjoy.The checkpoint at the exit from Bir Zeit is not manned today; thereis increased easing of the closure. The Atara bridge. On the rightthe road ascends to Nablus, on the left to the Jewish settlement ofHalamish. The road becomes hilly, we descend the valleys and climbthe mountains on this roller coaster. Jifna on the right.
It's already 1:15 P.M., so far we've been on the road for 40 minutes.As we head toward highway No. 60 the driver puts on his seat belt;there's a Jewish road ahead. The conditions on the road improveimmediately: They are well paved, with no bumps, wide shoulders and lighting.
It's 17 kilometers to the settlement of Beit El, five toOfra. The driver's seat belt refuses to close. Ofra on the left, 28kilometers to Jerusalem. Finally we are headed south, the direction of our destination. The settlements of Ma'aleh Mikhmash, KokhavHashahar on the left. It's quiet today, and there are no surprise roadblocks. "Careful, blind people on the road," warns a JerusalemMunicipality sign near the A-Ram checkpoint, which is exactly atthe entrance of the Helen Keller school.After 48 kilometers and exactly an hour and a quarter, we havearrived at our destination: the Qalandiyah checkpoint, from whichwe started out, but on the other side.
The IDF spokesman: "The Qalandiyah crossing was closed because ofthe great security risk to the IDF soldiers who carry out thesecurity checks there and the direct contact between thePalestinians and the soldiers, which last Thursday led to thestabbing attack in which an IDF soldier was killed by a terrorist."Since the new crossing at Qalandiyah, which promises better protection for the soldiers and better conditions for thePalestinian residents, is expected to be opened soon, the IDF Central Command has decided not to take any unnecessary risks, and to wait for the opening of the new crossing. It should be mentioned that in spite of the closing of the checkpoint, humanitarian cases and residents of East Jerusalem are being allowed to cross there."A naive question: If it's dangerous for the soldiers, and if it's possible to cross - but only via the long and expensive route - why not just get rid of this ridiculous checkpoint?
(Israel) December 16, 2005
Irja.
The time has come for all of us to become familiar with thisword. There is no checkpoint soldier who doesn't know it, there isno Palestinian who hasn't heard it. "Irja!" roars the soldier atthe person whom he is preventing from crossing the checkpoint -i.e., go back, get out of here. "Irja" to the man carrying theinjured child, who wants to bring him home. "Irja" to theconstruction engineer who wants to get to work. "Irja" to themother carrying her baby on the way to visiting her parents. "Irja"to the old man who wants to visit his grandchildren.The theater of the absurd of the occupation is giving rise to a newscene, reminiscent of an older one. Last Thursday, Yosef Abu-A'adi,29, stabbed and killed soldier Nir Kahana at the Qalandiyahcheckpoint. The checkpoint was closed immediately, and for the pastweek, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been unable tocross it.
Qalandiyah, we should mention here, is a"mega-checkpoint" in the territories, not between the territoriesand Israel. The cruel collective punishment that was ordered lastweek - there's no other way to describe it - condemns tens ofthousands of innocent people, who are already in a bad way, to manymore days of harassment.Is the checkpoint closed? Not really. It can be crossed. Not bywalking a few hundred meters, as usual, but via a very costly andprolonged ride in a taxi - 50 kilometers and an hour and a half ineach direction - to bypass the closed checkpoint, involving a tripalmost all over the West Bank. You drive north, in order to drivesouth for a few hundred meters, until you reach the other side ofthe checkpoint. Is this not collective punishment?
Soon the new Qalandiyah crossing will be dedicated: a virtualcheckpoint city with the suffocating separation wall alongside,impressively organized international lanes for passage with parkingplaces for the disabled - the comfortable occupation. Stones fromthe Golan Heights beautify the plazas, and there's a large signthat someone has planted here with great chutzpah, proclaiming "Thehope of us all," with a picture of a red rose next to it. Therenovated checkpoint that cuts the occupied West Bank in half willbe "the hope of us all."In the mini-bus taxi in which we traveled this week, to experiencethe absurdity of driving dozens of kilometers in order to bypassthe closed checkpoint, it says in Hebrew "Do not despair." But thiswinter in Qalandiyah, which the Israel Defense Forces likes to call"a crossing," continues to be a very depressing one.
The mountains of garbage, the sand, the barbed wire and theconcrete blocks that were placed here last Thursday prevent anypossibility of crossing by car. If there's a murder in Tel Aviv, isall of Tel Aviv placed under siege? If there's a stabbing in Haifa,is all of Haifa imprisoned? But here in the territories anythinggoes: a murder in Qalandiyah, and half the West Bank is underdetention.
The Palestinian press reports on this checkpoint everyday on the front pages, but who in Israel has heard about it? Who is even interested?A young man carrying his nephew, a child whose entire leg isencased in a cast, approaches the concrete blocks with the barbedwire strung between them. The Border Policeman, out of greathumanity, allows the injured child to return home; after all, Israel allows "humanitarian cases" to cross, as has beenpublicized. However, the uncle, who is carrying him in his arms, isnot a "humanitarian case." The child cannot stand up. The uncleputs him down like an object on the concrete block, before theunfeeling eyes of the policeman: "I'll take him only up to the carand I'll come back," pleads the uncle, but the Border Policeman isnot affected by any of this: "Irja."
A line of cars that are forced to head back where they came from,traffic jams and loud honking of horns. A young man sits in a whiteVW Polo, pointing to the scars on his face. On the last holiday asoldier hit him there. The man says that he tried to convince thesoldier to allow the man's brother to join him for a holiday visitto their family - and the reply was blows with the rifle butt.Everyone here bears the scars of the checkpoint.A social worker from the Red Crescent in Ramallah, a volunteer who specializes in treating the emotionally scarred, tries in vain toshow the Border Policeman his volunteer certificate from thehumanitarian organization, as well as the newspaper clipping inwhich it says that "humanitarian cases" are allowed to cross."Irja."
The emotionally scarred in Ramallah can wait. An easing of the closure: Starting on Sunday, Israel allowedresidents of East Jerusalem to cross at Qalandiyah, but not theresidents of Ramallah or the West Bank, of course. We cross onfoot. In the filthy tunnel at the crossing, a young man walkstoward us, returning to where he came from, his face contorted inanger: "They're sons of bitches." Issa had smoked a cigarette at the checkpoint, the soldier orderedhim to put it out and then, when he tossed the cigarette butt intothe garbage that is scattered all over the ground, the soldierordered him to collect all the cigarette butts from the checkpoint."I don't work for you," said the young man - and gave up his rightto cross. "This whole business of the stabbing was not a simple matter," says Issa, a Jerusalemite. "It was probably a man whosuffered a great deal at this checkpoint. It's not a small matter, for a man to stab a soldier."
"Are they letting people cross?" asks a passerby."They're letting people cross, but humiliating them," replies Issa.In a blue Golf sits a Jerusalem woman with a baby on her lap. Shehas been standing at the eastern part of the crossing, where cars from Jerusalem are allowed to leave Ramallah along the bypassroute. She took the baby out of his car seat, after his cryingcould be heard far and wide. Already an hour at the checkpoint, andthe end is not in sight. A visit to Grandma and Grandpa.Three young children are returning from their private school totheir homes in the Qalandiyah refugee camp.
Every day they cross here on the way to school and back; Israel allows them to passthrough. The sixth-graders see what is happening at the checkpoint, their hearts filled with love of Zion. Subahi, Samer and Yasser gotout of school early today. The soldiers did not allow the gymteacher or the science teacher to cross.
Meanwhile, the woman with the baby is still waiting in the blue Golf. The mother straps her baby into his seat; there are only twocars still ahead of her at the checkpoint, an hour and a half afterher arrival.Elderly Jedda Darwish has an American passport and a valid touristvisa for Israel. He's allowed to walk around freely in Tel Aviv,but not to cross Qalandiyah, American or not. "Irja."
The entire West Bank is now becoming covered with phosphorescentyellow vests. A new ruling that will come into effect in Israelshortly will require every driver to wear this glowing garment whenhe leaves his car at night on the road. West Bank drivers, whosesafety is especially important to Israel, have rushed to buy vestsfrom the many peddlers on the sides of the roads: They know thatthey will be the first ones to get ticketed for violations. At theQalandiyah checkpoint they cost NIS 15 each. Instructions for use:"This vest must be worn closed only, for the safety of the wearer.It should not be put in a clothes dryer. It should not be washedmore than 15 times. It should not be used for the followingpurposes: protection from fire, chemical substances, cold,electricity or other dangers."It's 12:25 P.M. and our taxi finally gets moving.
Inside are some angry-looking people who are now being forced to pay NIS 15 eachand to kill an hour and a quarter, not including the long waituntil the taxi fills up - just to reach the other side of theQalandiyah checkpoint. On the right is the Qalandiyah refugee camp.We are driving into Ramallah, passing by the homes of El Bireh, onour long trip. The passengers are wrapped in silence. What is thereto say?
They absorb the humiliation of this stupid excursion, and keep quiet.Feingold & Son assembled the seats of the shabby van. A passportphoto of the driver's son, a son of refugees from Qalandiyah, ishanging above his head, alongside the little green fir tree thatonce gave off a scent. The driver's face is angry, too, althoughsince the closing of the checkpoint he has more work.The Best Eastern Hotel in Ramallah.
The city is trying to create aninternational impression. To reach southern Ramallah we travelnorth. Very far north. Then east, and then again south. The villageof Sudra, the site of one of the crueler checkpoints in the WestBank, which has been removed. And Abu Kash, a large percentage of whose inhabitants have emigrated to America. In the window of one of the stores we pass, there is a display of exercise equipment. Toour left is the pleasant campus of Bir Zeit University; indeedwe've already arrived in the town of Bir Zeit, where most of the population is Christian. Tour and enjoy.The checkpoint at the exit from Bir Zeit is not manned today; thereis increased easing of the closure. The Atara bridge. On the rightthe road ascends to Nablus, on the left to the Jewish settlement ofHalamish. The road becomes hilly, we descend the valleys and climbthe mountains on this roller coaster. Jifna on the right.
It's already 1:15 P.M., so far we've been on the road for 40 minutes.As we head toward highway No. 60 the driver puts on his seat belt;there's a Jewish road ahead. The conditions on the road improveimmediately: They are well paved, with no bumps, wide shoulders and lighting.
It's 17 kilometers to the settlement of Beit El, five toOfra. The driver's seat belt refuses to close. Ofra on the left, 28kilometers to Jerusalem. Finally we are headed south, the direction of our destination. The settlements of Ma'aleh Mikhmash, KokhavHashahar on the left. It's quiet today, and there are no surprise roadblocks. "Careful, blind people on the road," warns a JerusalemMunicipality sign near the A-Ram checkpoint, which is exactly atthe entrance of the Helen Keller school.After 48 kilometers and exactly an hour and a quarter, we havearrived at our destination: the Qalandiyah checkpoint, from whichwe started out, but on the other side.
The IDF spokesman: "The Qalandiyah crossing was closed because ofthe great security risk to the IDF soldiers who carry out thesecurity checks there and the direct contact between thePalestinians and the soldiers, which last Thursday led to thestabbing attack in which an IDF soldier was killed by a terrorist."Since the new crossing at Qalandiyah, which promises better protection for the soldiers and better conditions for thePalestinian residents, is expected to be opened soon, the IDF Central Command has decided not to take any unnecessary risks, and to wait for the opening of the new crossing. It should be mentioned that in spite of the closing of the checkpoint, humanitarian cases and residents of East Jerusalem are being allowed to cross there."A naive question: If it's dangerous for the soldiers, and if it's possible to cross - but only via the long and expensive route - why not just get rid of this ridiculous checkpoint?
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Posted by mattmartinez4434 | 12:06 PM
Hi Irja. My name is Sherril. I came across your blog while doing a search on the movie Shirley Valentine, which is one of my favorites. When I read your profile and learned that you are of Palestinian heritage, I wanted to contact you and see if you would be willing to dialog with someone who may have very different points of view than you, on the subject of Israel and the Palestinians, but who is an open and generally empathetic person, who would be me. As I said, my name is Sherril and both my parents were born here in the US, as well as one grandparent. The others came from Eastern Europe and Russia. I am a Jewish American and my husband is from Israel, via Morocco. I will leave it at that and again ask you if you would be interested in dialoging with me? If not, that is OK too. I hope in any case you will write me back to acknowledge receiving this. My blog address is http://sherrilsmyriadofmusings.blogspot.com/2006/01/dobson-and-spongebob-squarepants-last.html
Sincerely,
Sherril
Posted by Sherril's Myriad of Musings | 8:16 PM