Palestinians crossing through the womens’ checkpoint at Qalandia to reach Jerusaelm, 19 July 2013. (Photo: Allison Deger)
To arrive on time it’s best not to sleep at all. Every Friday during Ramadan, Israel allows Palestinian children, elderly and women to cross Qalandia, the barrier between the West Bank and Jerusalem. The place is full of motion. People shuffling in one direction, past the mini checkpoints erected about 200 meters from the main metal bar, barbed wire, two turn-stop checkpoint.
With the influx of travelers, leaving the West Bank can eat the morning away. So the crowds start arriving, by foot from the hills of nearby Qalandia refugee camp, by bus, by car and by taxi as early as 4 am. By sunrise the stream of foot passengers (the checkpoint is closed to cars on Fridays for Ramadan) is steady, holding strong throughout the rest of the day.
Once past the ID checks, Palestinians hop in vehicles and are carted to the Damascus Gate where they blend into the streets. Then hoof it to the al-Aqsa Mosque compound. Soaker hoses, like the kind used for gardens, strung from rooftops mist water on everything from the waste up. Foreheads are cooled.
For many Ramadan is their only time visiting Jerusalem. The faces of elation on some children seem to scream, “I’m here! I’m here!” From Hebron to Jerusalem, from Nablus to Jerusalem—the ordinarily unimaginable jaunt across the separation wall happens. A group of girls sit in a park joking with one and another. They didn’t come to Jerusalem to pray, they came to play hooky from the occupation.
Yet the trip is not without watchful eyes. Israeli border police survey the Old City, and regularly stop the returning buses to the West Bank, detaining those whose paper work is deemed unacceptable. Detained, detained, always a possibility.
Amazing, and haunting, photos–particularly of the Palestinian child glancing up at an Israeli soldier.
If this isn’t apartheid (or worse), I’m a three-legged monkey.
Excellent photos. This year the atmosphere is relatively relaxed, as can be seen in most of the pictures. Note, photo #6 from the top, with the Palestinian amd Israeli security men (and the Red Crescent volunteers, with nothing to do, in the background) with Arafat in the background.
I see photos of people being forced to line up for hours and gain permission from gun toting goons in order to access land that is legally theirs.
That you find it relaxing is quite telling. You have normalized the occupation so much that as long as there is no overt violence you do not see the vile Apartheid in front of your eyes.
I’m not normalizing anything, I would like nothing better than to see those checkpoints disappear. As long as they exist, it’s good to see the relaxed holiday atmosphere. Would you prefer violence and bloodshed?
As to getting from one part of their territory (West Bank) to another part of their territory (East Jerusalem) -that’s may be so, but only part of the story: once they are in East Jerusalem they can move freely to West Jerusalem and the rest of Israel itself. That access could be used by potential terrorists.
Looking again at photo #6 : the Palestinian security guy appears to be explaining something to the Israeli, probably something about the woman and kid at the right.
There is no hint of tension between them, no finger-on-the trigger, just two guys trying to work out a problem, doing their jobs. In the background, under the mural of a young Arafat on the wall, the Red Crescent youths stand around with their arms crossed. We see them in some of the other photos, assisting wheelchair-bound women.
It’s truly a remarkable series of pictures.