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New photos from the Levant by Skip Schiel September - October, 2004 |
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Last week [late September 2004] as I sought a shared taxi (called "serveece taxi here, a most innovative way to build a public transport system under occupation) in Ramallah's center, Al-Manara, I noticed a huge crowd of students waiting to travel the 10 or so miles to Birzeit University. --What's up? I inquired. (my Arabic is primitive, but I can usually find someone with enough English to make sense of my words.) --Flying checkpoint, might not be able to get to the university today. While waiting for the taxi I sought faces, those that might show the frustration and anxiety of the infringement to the right to education. I've chosen one to show you. Eventually I found a taxi driver willing to transport me and five students to the checkpoint. My heart fluttered as I realized this would be my first experience on this trip with the reality of occupation for students: the flying checkpoint. No advanced warning, no explanation, can happen any time, students can be arrested and detained, cameras might be confiscated, no connection with events in Israel (this was the day of the French Hill bombing in Jerusalem but the bombing occurred in the afternoon, the checkpoint in the morning.) Half the usual number of students (2500 of 5000) and staff (300 or so of the 700) found a way to university that day (some live in the village of Birzeit and might not have been checkpoint blocked). Minor, maybe, but important in the aggregate. During the first Intifada, the school was closed for some 3 years. During the current Intifada, a major roadblock and sometime checkpoint curtailed access for over 2 years, until removed last December. For more information about this Surda checkpoint, try the link below. "Surda Checkpoint, West Bank," by Jean-Marc Mojon in the Palestine Monitor, July 2003 "Education Denied," by the Right to Education Campaign of Birzeit University |
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