“One freedom I had taken for granted was to move freely to school and work. Israeli military checkpoints litter the roads throughout the West Bank, and if you live 15 miles away from school or work, chances are you will have to go through at least two or three of them. Exiting your vehicle, you are herded to a barb-wired waiting zone, all under the cold gaze of an Israeli soldier and his or her automatic weapon. Needless to say, this was terrifying for someone who is not comfortable around guns. If you’re lucky, your American passport will get you off the hook, or maybe one of the young Israeli soldiers will think you’re cute and let you pass without interrogation. But for most Palestinians, the checkpoints are a daily humiliation, a reminder of the military occupation under which they live. These checkpoints are one of the few exchanges that Israelis and Palestinians share, a phenomenon that goes to the root of the problem in the conflict. This brief interaction leaves the Palestinians viewing the Israelis as nothing more than military monsters, and leaves the Israeli soldiers suspecting each Palestinian of being a potential suicide bomber. There is a wall, both figuratively and literally, between the Israelis and their Palestinian neighbours, and this prevents both sides from understanding the other whom they consider the enemy”…
From an essay, In their shoes, by Pauline Lewis: Common Ground News Service – Middle East, 03 – 09 April 2008
