March 15, 2003

Children Stuck at Bethlehem Checkpoint

[Bethlehem, West Bank] I'm back in Bethlehem. I now have a brand new passport and a brand new three-month visa to stay as a tourist in the state of Israel. Excellent. My brief excursion to Jordan went very well. I passed across the border without incident. However, on my return to Bethlehem I witnessed something that still bothers me very much.

I took a service taxi from the Allenby Bridge border crossing to Damascus Gate in Jerusalem. There I got into a service with about a dozen children in uniforms who had just gotten out of school. I guessed them to be between 8-12 years old. The boys and girls were laughing and playing together in the van. Most of the children got out of the taxi van before we reached Bethlehem, but five remained. We all got out together, and I followed them to the checkpoint. On the Bethlehem side of the checkpoint, a mother was waiting to take the children to their homes in Beit Sahour. The children were walking together to the checkpoint, but the Israeli soldiers would not allow them to pass.

The soldier called to the mother. He asked for papers on all the children, which the woman did not have. She had some documentation on two of them, so they were allowed to go. But a little boy and two little girls had to stay behind. They had been allowed to pass through the checkpoint to go to school, but now they were not allowed to return home. I watched as another soldier told them to line up along the wall. The boy strayed from the wall a bit, and the soldier yelled at him. And they all started crying. Remember, there were two Israeli soldiers in full gear with rifles, yelling at these little Palestinian kids in school uniforms.

Since I've read the Geneva Convention documentation, I think I remember something about the occupying power (Israel) making sure that the occupied people (little Palestinian kids coming home from school) have a proper education. Perhaps not allowing students to return home from class would fall into the category of a violation. Not that a violation would be anything new.

The soldier motioned me to go through, and I asked what they were going to do with these kids. He said it was none of my business. And for the next few minutes I unsuccessfully tried to convince the soldiers to allow the kids to go home. I offered to take the kids home myself. I reminded them that maybe they had baby brothers or sisters in their own homes. I tried to tell them that these kids were ten years old, for heaven's sake! They had one loud response and it was always -- "It is not your problem!" I looked at the crying children, and I felt horrible. But then the soldiers threatened to keep me out of Bethlehem, so I did something that I didn't feel very good about. I took the easy way out, and I passed through and left the crying kids behind. A few more Palestinians had arrived by the time my exchange with the soldiers had finished, so I hoped that someone there could help them.

There's no sense in a soldier bullying a ten-year-old kid who is trying to get home from school. I'm sure some Israeli soldiers would have allowed the kids to pass without a problem. Some would have looked into their eyes and seen their innocent faces. But these soldiers today demonstrated nothing but resentment for these children. I hope these kids forget it. I hope they don't remember the soldiers who lined them against the wall and yelled at them. I hope they don't think that all Israelis are like these two. And I sure hope they don't remember the American who walked away while they cried for help.