VOX

"[Christ] has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us"
(Ephesians 2: 14b)

There are three hundred checkpoints in the West Bank and twenty-two in Gaza . It is not enough just to list the number of checkpoints. Or to tell one story about what happened at one of them. Each checkpoint needs to be described to illustrate the complexity and extent of harm they cause to a whole people.

Katy, who lives in Ramallah and works in the Jalazone refugee camp, has been at the YWCA center in Jalazone for the past 35 years. She has decided to quit her job because she is no more able to tolerate the daily ordeal of the Surda checkpoint: a roadblock placed at the juncture of the city of Ramallah and its northern towns and villages.

Katy has had her share of defying the oppressive measures imposed under the occupation. Every day for the past two and half years, since the closers were imposed, she made this journey of torture. Often her trip went through dirt roads, which she started walking very early in the morning. Before the Israeli soldiers could intercept her way. Even this was not guaranteed to be safe and very often she was sent back while sometimes being exposed to tear gas and shooting. When Katy's health became affected by this daily trip back and forth, she decided to quit her job. Not an easy decision to give up this important part of her life. A part she used to love.

Crowds of people have to go through the Surda checkpoint to reach work, students pass to reach schools in Ramallah, university students and professors to reach Birzeit University, ill people pass through to get to hospitals, and shop owners and shoppers must pass to by supplies.

The road was destroyed and concrete blocks were placed to prohibit cars from passing. Since, people have to walk a distance of two to three kilometers up hill and down hill before they are allowed to take a taxi to continue their trip. Young and old have to go through this journey of humiliation under the rain in winter, and under a burning heat of 35 degrees in summer. That is, if the checkpoint is not closed and people are denied passage. Which they often are.

The really strange thing about this checkpoint is that the soldiers leave it unguarded. They monitor it every once in a while from within their jeeps. They roam the hills surrounding the checkpoint to make sure that no one attempts to use any other alternate passage.

The question still unanswered in Katy's and many other Palestinians' minds is: What then is the purpose of a checkpoint, other than disrupting normal life and making it unbearable for hundreds of people every day?

(Top picture: al Khader checkpoint, bottom picture: roadblock next to Bethlehem)

Vox is an electronic newsletter representing a unified Christian voice of Church related organizations (CROs) who consent to this initiative. Vox's rationale is to monitor and report on the humanitarian situation on the ground in the Palestinian occupied territories. Vox is initiated as the global attention is directed towards the Iraqi war whilst the conditions for Palestinians deteriorate.

Vox embraces East Jerusalem YMCA, YWCA of Palestine, DSPR (Department of Services to the Palestinian Refugees, The Middle East Council of Churches), the Near East Council of Churches Gaza, Sabeel Ecumenical Centre for Liberation Theology, Justice and Peace Commission Jerusalem, Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate in Jerusalem, and Caritas Jerusalem.

Vox appeals to the world's Church leaders to pray and act to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinians as a consequence of the extremely harsh measures and policies imposed by the Israeli occupying forces.

Vox urges all national leaders, international governmental and non-governmental institutions to take action and pressure Israel to abide by international humanitarian law.

Please contact: nanna@caritasjr.org if your CRO is interested in joining Vox or for any comments.