10 August 2006 - Don't Squeeze a Jaffa, Crush The Occupation...

Evening to all.

I wrote this entire entry earlier, but it deleted it as I submitted it. MEH. I then just started to type it up again and deleted 10 minutes work. Double meh. It's now 2.45am, and my eyes are very sore but I'm determined to get this bloody thing done.

First clarification of my location. No Mum, never fear, I'm not hiding out in a tunnel somewhere beneath Gaza, it's just that given my politics I regard Al Quds (Jerusalem) as the capital of Palestine not Israel. Having said that, I did visit Palestine "proper" earlier today, but more on that later.

Lots has happened since my last entry, but I'll try to keep this as concise as possible....unlikely to happen though, knowing me...

Well first, the border crossing. Despite our fears, yes the Israelis let me in (they must be mad) though not without significant delay and hassle.

I left Amman at 9.30am on Sunday, and took a shared taxi (serveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee) to the Jordanian side of the border. There I was ushered into the significantly quieter (in fact, almost empty) "international" departures section rather than the Jordanian one. A quick bag search, departure tax paid and passport checked (though not stamped goddammit) and it was time to jet off to the Israeli side of the bridge (rather appropriately on a JETT bus).

Twas on this bus that I met my new friend, Hana (yes, that's caused some confusion here too) - an American/Palestinian who was also traveling alone over to Jerusalem.

Anyhow, the bus journey was short and soon the Star of David could be seen fluttering in the breeze, which I regarded with mixed feelings- of "excitement of entering a new land" (to quote my good friend Ernesto) and yet a recognition that this flag should never be flying here in the first place.

So the bus and into the Paradise that is Y'Israeli border control. First we had to give our bags and passports over so that our baggage could be searched and we could be sorted, so to speak. Easier said than done when there was no queue at all, and the weight of my backpack restricted any significant lifting. Eventually I handed it over, and when they saw my nationality I was ushered through the x-ray and air blowing body scanning device. I was then told to wait for a woman who would interview me about my stay… This was the part I was dreading but it turned out to be surprisingly quick and painless. A few quick questions on matters such as parents nationality and I was away.

"Hurrah- the difficult part is over. Now I just need to get my passport stamped and I'll be away", I though.

But alas, no.

First, I had to fill in an entry slip. Painless enough. Then the passport check. It was all smiles 'til the girl had a look through my passport.

"You've been to Syria?"

"Yes…"

"WHY?!?"

I bit my tongue and decided it was not the time to declare I had been working for a Hezbollah recruitment campaign, tempting as it was. After a 20 minutes grilling, including being asked the address of my place of study with postcode (?!) and being asked the name of my father's father, I was asked to take a seat in the waiting area while my passport was processed. Again, my hopes of a speedy exit were raised, but again were unfounded.

It took three, yes three more hours until my passport was finally returned to me, and a further two until Hana got hers back, during which time she was escorted into a "secret" interrogation room for a further interview, which I'm sure was fun

I have to just make a quick note of the incompetence of the staff at the border, well on the passport control desks at least. It was staffed almost exclusively by teenage girls who spend the hours I was there chatting, hugging each other and smoking rather than actually processing the passports that many people had been waiting hours for.

Eventually we escaped and after a few more bag related security checks, we were away on the mini bus that would take us to Jerusalem. By the time we arrived it was 6.30pm- a 9 hour journey just to cover around miles.

To be continued........ (its now 4.30am and i need to get up to go to the Mount of Olives....)

x x