Last day in Israel/Palestine

"Where once there was a path, now there is a hurdle. An earthen mound of hope and resentment piled into one."
- I.K.

I left Israel/Palestine today. Although the trip from Ramallah to the airport and freedom from the security state was something of a task, I managed to get through fairly easily. I decided to leave from Ramallah, in the West Bank, instead of return to Israel the night before I was meant to leave. Thankfully the flight was at midnight so I had plenty of time to get to Ben Gurion International Airport, and even have lunch with a good friend at his refugee camp just outside Ramallah. From Ramallah I took a bus to Arab East Jerusalem. From there I got a taxi. Although he asked for 250 shekels (around 80 Australian dollars) I bargained him down to 190, which happened to be exactly all the money I had. We drove up towards the airport and, as happened last time, a tall, armed Israeli security guard with an equally large M-16 strapped to his chest stopped our car and told us to park. My driver, himself a Palestinian Israeli (most taxi drivers are) was told to wait in a separate room while both of our IDs were taken. I was asked a range of questions, something I have become rather used to. What are you doing in Israel? Where have you been? Where are you going? And so on. My bags were searched and I got those magic blue stickers on my bags that would ensure they were only searched one more time inside the airport.

On this trip I've developed the ability to stand my ground with an unfailingly polite manner. It seems to have worked really well and developed my self-confidence enormously. But, at the end of the day, it is offensive the way you are treated like a potential terrorist until the bitter end. As much can be garnered from the questioners' body language. They look at you and test your every response with eyes that observe your body language. Even my humble toe nail clipper was mistaken for a knife requiring a pocket in my bag to be given special attention.

Inside the terminal my bag was searched again by a young woman. It turned out she was studying at the Middle East Studies department at the university my friend lectures at. She went through my bag, searched my laptop, even asked to see photos on my camera. When I told her I was a journalist and where I'd travelled to she queried whether I was objective. I told her I wouldn't have a job if I wasn't objective. I report what I see. By the end of the entire process she apologised for 'grilling' me 'so much' and I wished her all the best in her studies. At the end of the day, even the worst regime, which Israel certainly is not, and the harshest interrogator, which she certainly wasn't either, is human. If there is a soluton to the Israel/Palestine conflict it will require both parties to humanise the other more than they have hitherto.

My details were checked again at the third booth I was processed at. I had to wait another ten minutes, presumably for Intelligence to check up on me. And after that I was free. By international standards it was a long and draining process. By Israeli standards it was pretty ok. I know I haven't blogged as much on this trip as on the previous occasion. But I've been far more productive and have been in the region much longer this time around. More than anything I think the trip confirmed that some things, like Israel's occupation of Palestine, have only worsened but have not fundamentally changed. That puts the lie to the media and the 'International Quartet' and their claims that peace may just be around the corner, if only each side was willing to think in new and different ways.

The trip also confirmed my ability to work as a freelancer and has led to some exciting prospects.

Next stop, a brief stay in Hong Kong, followed by a slightly longer one in Australia.