"היום הכל בסדר" "Today everything is OK.

But actually, it's far from OK.

I am suddenly startled out of my reverie while translating Machsom Watch reports. "Today," reports a Palestinian, "Everything is OK." THe soldiers are OK, no one is being held up, there is no humiliation, people are moving through the checkpoint smoothly.

Have people now reached the point that they take for granted that the checkpoints are there, that this is normalcy, and that if they are not stopped, humiliated, harrassed, or anything else exceptional does not go on, than this is to be considered "OK?" "B'seder?"

Does it enter anyone's mind that the checkpoints within the Palestinian territory should not be there at all? Has this absurdity now become a state of normalcy?

Why, asks a watcher, are there so few Palestinians at the checkpoints in the middle of the day? From ten to noon people who are not already at work would take a walk, visit family, grandchildren, new mothers, a sick relative, look for a potential bride, shop, go to the clinic, take the washing machine in for repair in the neighboring village, bring some concrete cinder blocks for the new house. Children on summer vacation are looking for work, and other mundane errands. Such wanderings would be termed by the occupying force as wandering around the seamline zone with no purpose.
The army and the country have obligated themselves to ensure that Shaked Checkpoint enable people for whom the separation fence has infringed upon their lives to continue to live their lives as before.

However, in practice this is not what is being done, and the “all is OK” is far from OK. Any movement from one place to another within the seamline zone or from the seamline zone to the West Bank requires a permit. There has to be a reason – a good reason – to present to the soldier at the checkpoint for why you want to go anywhere. So people don’t bother…Yalla, so let’s not bother fixing the washing machine. We’ll wash clothes by hand, because in order to get the washing machine fixed we will have to tote it through Reihan checkpoint, and that will cost more than a new machine!

Let’s imagine that the Shaked Checkpoint were transferred to the Ra’anana junction. Soldiers stand and flag people down, require each person to be checked according to their capriza...ID. Check the car. Check the trunk. Maybe even let a bonb search dog with muddy paws into you car to give it a good going over. You will only get to work on time if the guy with the boots and the M-16 wants you to. I wonder how long the average Israeli would have patience for these daily holdups?

Keep in mind that we are not talking about border crossings into Israel, but about checkpoints within Palestinian territory. The excuse of "If we don't check then they will bomb Tel Aviv" therefore does not hold water.

Perhaps we should organize a demonstration: place a simulated machsom at the Kfar Sharyahu Junction and start checking cars, ID’s, where are you going? You’re late for work? Too bad. Perhaps then we would realize that everything is not OK.