Hugh Sykes in the West Bank
Last week, Hugh Sykes reported from a checkpoint in the West Bank where Israeli soldiers check Palestinians going from one part of the West Bank to another. Hugh took these photos as he went through the Huwarra checkpoint himself:
Fifty people have permits to drive through, anyone else from Nablus (population 140,000) has to walk and take a
taxi from the other side:
Inside the checkpoint. On a good day, it's a 40 minute wait. It can take four hours. Israel says it necessary for security. Palestinians complain it severely restricts everyday life, and amounts to a collective punishment.
There's a separate lane for women, children and the elderly.
The Israelis say these checks are all necessary - to prevent suicide bombers. When this bus burned in Jerusalem a few days ago, people thought at first it was a suicide attack. It wasn't - just an engine fire, but a grim image reminding people of the danger they believe they still face:
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Thank you, Peter, for posting those - and thank you, Hugh, for providing them.
Listening to Hugh's report last week, I was struck by the patience of the Palestinians as they went through this process. The point was made in the report that, on that particular day, things went much more quickly than on an average day, due to Hugh's presence there. One can only imagine what it must be like to wait for up to four hours, knowing that you may, in any event, be turned away by the Israeli soldiers who are in charge of the operation.
As Hugh pointed out, these extra hours are on top of the working day, and this must be a huge strain on family life. No wonder the situation has become so explosive.
Thank you again, Hugh, for sharing these pictures, and thank you for your sensitive and insightful broadcast. One of so many, I hasten to add!
Have you started writing that book yet?
Israel would have far more justification, and far less need, for these barriers if they were setup on internationally recognised borders, ie: those pre-1967, instead of their iron curtain encroaching ever further onto occupied land.
As for Tony Blair becoming a Middle East envoy, what kind of message does that send? He's had ten years, and the greatest effect he's had on the region is allowing the passage of weapons through Britain so that Israel could attack Lebanon.
I'll just second all of Sis's remarks.
Heartfelt thanks.
ed
Of course, that's deemed malicious!
I try to draw a parallel, to get this extraordinary business into my mind. Suppose that everyone who worked or went to school or went to hospital in central Nottingham but lived outside the centre of town had to go through such a checkpoint (and spend between 40 minutes and 4 hours waiting every time they did so) on their way to work, to school, to have the baby or treatment for their cancer... How would we feel about it? And suppose that this were being done not for the protection of Nottingham, by a volunteer army or police, but for the protection of Cardiff, by an army of Welsh conscript soldiers funded and armed by the Chinese and employed by the Welsh Assembly?
Not a very pleasant picture, and not one we would find it easy to accept on the grounds that some but by no means all citizens of Nottingham might want to bomb Cardiff if the situation were that Wales had taken over most of England by force, driven people out of their houses (which had then been razed to the ground), and killed anyone who protested.
I find that it helps to bring things home if one brings them closer to home in one's mind.
Ditto the remarks of Sis and Ed -- thanks Hugh.
Ian (2),
Al Toady as an 'honest broker'? It's unbelievably ludicrous! Almost as ludicrous as the '' and its sponsor the 'quartet'.
By accepting this sale of their constituents into slavery the corrupt Fatah leaders and officials ensured their continued luxurious lifestyles and fattening bank accounts while the ordinary Palestinians watched the Israeli settlements continue to expand in direct defiance of the agreement...No wonder the ordinary folk voted for a change, and no wonder the sponsors of this grossly unjust proposal then boycotted Hamas.
Grrrr!
ed
If it wasn't so awful in Palestine, the idea of al Poodle as 'envoy' would be hilarious.
4)
Thanks for taking the time to write it out. I had not realized before that people needed to be taught empathy so graphically. As much as a news junkie as I am, I can rarely say there is any pleasure in it.
xx
solidarity with the Palestinian Men, Women and Children xx
Oi, Ed I!!!
Oi, Jimmy!
Thanks for that!
For another perspective, try .
Namaste
ed
And with regard to the , an official Israeli report on this continuing violation of the Geneva conventions.
xx
ed
Of course, it's malicious!
Ghoti writes:
Not a very pleasant picture, and not one we would find it easy to accept on the grounds that some but by no means all citizens of Nottingham might want to bomb Cardiff if the situation were that Wales had taken over most of England by force, driven people out of their houses (which had then been razed to the ground),
The truth is actually a little more complex. To continue with his analogy - the UN resolved that there would be a Wales and an England, which Wales accepted but England fought by attacking with their chums from France, Scotland, Germany etc. At huge cost Wales survived (and outlying houses owned by Welsh people were destroyed). A few years later England + chums threatened to wipe out Wales again, which was only prevented by Wales taking military action. Bringing things up to date lots of english people voted for a homicidal party that still wanted to destroy Wales...
My friendly Fish,
"The truth is actually a little more complex."
Indeed it is. You neglected to mention that Wales had been previously populated largely by English folk, who in fact still constituted almost half of the gerrymandered area designated for Wales. The Welsh (mostly recent immigrants), actually attacked first and violently extended themselves over almost half the area designated for England, driving the English before them and destroying their homes.
Another .
xx
ed
My (12) was obviously mis-addressed. Apologies to my fishy friend.
xx
ed
Ed @ 12&13
SFX: ptooouiii!
Consider yourself as being the recipient, in the beard, of a pebble spat with fiendish accuracy and a velocity unimpeded by its having to travel through water, since I am quite capable of sticking my snout above the surface briefly for these purposes.
Never underestimate the wrath of a piscean miscreant!
Ouch! At least you hit the beard, which cushioned the blow and will hide the bruising. Very sorry, of course, but my immediate attempt to correct the error was deemed - you guessed it- malicious.
;-)
xx
ed
Malicious Ed @ 15
Whereas my getting just a teeny weeny bit exasperated somewhere else was accepted almost before I had decided that maybe I ought not to send it after all. *sigh* Oh well, I don't suppose I have made matters any worse really.
I think I shall go and join anth at the new beach. Maybe there is something there with lots of sugar in it that somebody could drop into the surf for me to help improve my temper. Low blood sugar is *so* bad for one's equanimity. (hint, hint)