As Palestinians 'commute' to work / Kessel & Klochendler
BETHLEHEM CHECKPOINT, Occupied West Bank, Dec 4, 2010 (IPS) - It's 5am. The late autumn dawn is about to break. But for 3,500 Palestinian workers, a hard day's work began hours ago. Young and old men push and shove their way out through the narrow lane, barely a metre wide, bars of iron rising above them on either side. Over their heads sits a corrugated steel roof. Some try to sneak into the lane through a gap in the roof. "Being in jail is easier!" cries out one man angrily. He's a builder from Hebron. "Donkeys are made to stand like this! Even cattle are not hemmed in like this." ... The Palestinians grasp the bars, not just for fear of being trampled, but to keep their place in line. "I've got to be at work at seven, not at eight or ten! When I'm late, my Israeli boss tells me, ‘You can go home, I don't need you'." This is the Israeli occupation writ small, the nitty-gritty battles to survive the Occupation in a single lane.
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