Are Palestinian women ninja turtles? Yes, this is how they are described at the Hawara checkpoint on the outskirts of Nablus . I know this because I heard a soldier calling a group of women wearing black veils by this name. The women, of course, did not answer. Apparently ninja movies are not common in Nablus . The soldier got angry and used a phrase often on the tongues of the soldiers at the checkpoints: “Hey girls.” This reminds me of what happens at Ben-Gurion Airport , when the inspector says, “All the girls head to Gate 6.” We taught one soldier the correct word for women in Arabic: niswan . Is this just to amuse the stern-faced inspectors and members of Machsom Watch?
There are several facts: Limiting the movement of Palestinians within the West Bank—and not just at points of entry to Israel —is not a reaction to a specific incident or threat, but a natural, familiar order. Among the 58 checkpoints on the roads of the West Bank, only 19 are used to monitor entry into Israel —that is, less than one third. A Palestinian cannot move from one Palestinian neighborhood to another without the approval of the IDF's coordination commander even if it is for education, work, or to visit the doctor or relatives.
Beit Furik, September 20: A pregnant woman stands in the hot sun because the checkpoint is closed to traffic. She was on her way to Nablus for medical tests. Her husband, smiling, asks the soldier to allow his wife to cross, but the soldier refuses even though the husband and wife could have entered with no problems, as one of the officers at the checkpoint confirmed, and even though the soldier had no doubts about her pregnancy. Why? Because if she is capable of standing in the hot sun and her husband is capable of smiling, then the situation is not that serious. Moreover, there is no reason for her to go to Nablus as long as there is a doctor in her village.
Tel Aviv, the eve of Shavuot: A woman with two children—an infant in her arms and the other in a stroller—and carrying a few bags wants to get off the bus, but she is hindered because of the children, the doors, and her purchases. Several people stand to help her, and the driver and those passengers in a hurry wait with the utmost patience.
Hawara checkpoint, September 12: A mother and three children under the age of five, one of them an infant, carrying a few bags and things, is trying to pass with everything she is carrying through the narrow gate that separates the soldiers from those waiting. One of the children gets stuck. The gate turns and the head of the other son gets stuck. The three began crying, and the mother no longer knows how to handle the situation with the children or her things. The soldier aims his weapon and yells, “One by one.”
The eve of Rosh Hashanah: An old woman carrying baskets from the market feels exhausted in the middle of the road. Some vendors give her a seat and a glass of water, telling her, “Sit down, mother.”
Hawara checkpoint, September 13: An old woman succeeds in making it through the line to reach the inspection, and a soldier yells at her to return to the end of the line. She began crying; the soldier did his duty and takes her back to her place. A young woman asks the soldier searching that he not scream at her. As a result, she is delayed from passing for three hours as punishment.
What is more widespread? The respect we give to Jewish women inside the Green Line or the rudeness we show towards Palestinian women? Is this rudeness necessary in dealing with Palestinian women?
Palestinian women are ninja turtles not because of the black robes they wear, but because their lives have gone from something normal and simple to a series of daily confrontations with IDF soldiers and the Israeli occupation authorities.
Where is the line separating necessary security searches and humiliation? Where is the line between frustration and violent resistance accompanied by terrorist attacks against Israelis? It is clear that soldiers at the checkpoints do not see the Palestinians as human beings like them. Orders conceal this from them, and the situation does not allow them to see it. But how long will the Green Line continue to mark this demarcation?
*The author is an observer with Machsom Watch. |