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An Hour at the Checkpoint

Interview with a Palestinian High Schooll student from the Friends Boys School in Ramallah, Palestine from their Web sight – Behind the Wall

By BW News Team

With every time the sun rises on Palestine, it witnesses stories and situations of sorrow and suffering. Palestinian people are being burned by the fire of occupations.

BW: What is the story you want to share with us?
H: “It happened last year, in May precisely, I was going home from school through my usual way. Since I’m heading to Beit-Hanina I have to pass some checkpoints. I was passing normally when a soldier called me.”
BW: Which checkpoint was that?
H: “Al-Dahia checkpoint.”
BW: Go on please.
H: “She asked me for my ID card; I said I was underage and showed my passport instead. Unfortunately, it has been expired a couple of days ago.”
BW: So?
H: “I was stopped and wasn’t allowed to pass; they even said I have to go back to Ramallah. I refused and insisted on passing, but they rejected it; and every time I tried the worse their tone became. At last they said I will be jailed at the station if I didn’t go.”
BW: Oh, what did you do then?
H: “The only person I could think about was my mother; so I called her and waited.”
BW: How long did you wait?
H: “Well, not for long, my mother was furious when she heard; she arrived then and fought the soldiers with her words; they yelled back and threatened to separate me from her.”
BW: What did she do next?
H: “She kept trying; but as a response they took me to their cabinet.”
BW: How did you feel at the time?
H: “It was one of the worst feelings I ever had; I was afraid and cried, I cried a lot.”
BW: What happened next?
H: “It lasted for 30 minutes; I was returned to mom when ‘Mahsoum Watch’ arrived.”
BW: What is Mahsoum Watch?
H: “They are a group of Israeli women who seek help for Palestinians at checkpoints.”
BW: What did they do to help you?
H: “They talked to the soldiers, who immediately checked my passport and allowed me to pass.”
BW: Why do you think this happened to you?
H: “For spite, and to demoralize Palestinians.”
BW: What is your message to the world?
H: “I want everybody in this world to know that we, Palestinians, are not terrorists; and that it’s them who are trying to turn our lives into hell. They are hoping to make us leave our lands to them, but this will never happen.”

What I find most interesting about this article is that the Mahsoum Watch, a group of Israeli women, help Palestinians at checkpoints— I find that impressive, regarding the grand disputes between the two peoples. It’s unbelievable that this kind of event occurs so often, and especially to such young kids.
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Names have been withheld due to the sensitivity of this article.