Volume [4]
No. [1]
January 2007
|
|
||
|
Volume [4]
|
No. [1]
|
January 2007
|
Kalandia and the Meaning of 'Security'By S. Bloom, March 2006 |
|
| Traveling between Ramallah and Jerusalem used
to be a relatively easy trip; things have changed both quickly and drastically
since 2003. What used to be a temporary “flying” checkpoint near Kalandia
Refugee Camp has evolved into a terminal blended seamlessly with the apartheid
wall. Paid for out of the US aid to the Palestinian Authority, it is truly
a triumph of sadism. I arrived at the checkpoint to find a large group trying to get past
the first gate. From inside the control room, a female Israeli soldier
was shouting commands in Hebrew, and controlling how long the revolving
metal-bar doors would remain open. People challenged her authority by
trying to squeeze through more than one at a time. Eventually, I managed
to squeeze through this door, but this was only the first stage, the actual
checking of the per-mits & bags was yet to be done. As I was finally
about to push my way through the next revolving door, it slammed shut
and I got the red light! The soldier behind the glass was yelling things
in Hebrew that I couldn’t understand. But then, miraculously, he let me
through.
The new entrance to Kalandia.“A place that by its very
| The whole ordeal took 1.5 hours. According to the Israeli government, Kalandia is the newest and most efficient checkpoint that and it provides ’security.’ As far as I am concerned it is still a place that by its very existence, miles within the Occupied West Bank, serves only to humiliate, control, and do violence to the lives of Palestinians. It is a constant reminder to Palestinians that they are the ghettoized slaves and serfs of the land, and that the Israeli boys with guns, whether up close and personal or behind blast-proof glass, have all the power in the world; it is, in other words, the true meaning of ’security,’ which will never result in anyone’s security.
|
