May 18, 2002

The Taxi Selection Routine

[Bethlehem, Palestine] Another interesting process in Jerusalem is the taxi selection routine. While I was staying in Jerusalem, I witnessed odd behavior in certain residents. I couldn't quite understand what was going on. While sitting in a taxi at a traffic light, I noticed a young lady across the street. She stopped several taxis, had a few words, and then she declined all of them. I was surprised. Then a lady on my side of the street approached my taxi. She leaned to the window and asked the driver something in Hebrew. He answered, and she walked away. Very unusual. So I asked him what she asked. My driver, who was Palestinian, explained that she asked him where he lives. He gave her the name of his community. When she found out that he was Palestinian, she refused to take his taxi. He also told me that Israelis sometimes ask which company he works for. There are some companies that are Palestinian and some that are Israeli. Since he works for a Palestinian company, they won't take his taxi. Since that experience, I have seen it happen several more times. Israelis and Palestinians look alike. You can't tell the difference by looking at them, so you have to ask a few questions before you can show your racism.

Personally, I take whichever taxi picks me up. For practical reasons I hope it is a Palestinian taxi. Palestinian taxis will take me anywhere in Jerusalem. As far as I know, they have no problem going anywhere in East or West Jerusalem. I usually have to go to East Jerusalem, and Israeli taxi drivers will not take me there. They refuse to enter the area, citing security reasons or company policy. So they dump me off wherever is close enough for them. (Unless you ride with M.F. and B.S. After a few minutes of protesting, they did get an Israeli airport taxi driver to go the extra 100 meters to Damascus Gate. I was surprised.) Maybe I should demand that too, on principle. Maybe it's terrible that I don't, but with taxis, I am following the path of least resistance. It's so much easier just to walk than to argue with an Israeli driver to take me the extra block. I guess it's people like me who allow things like this to persist!