June 2010 Archives

Our flights out of Israel are on a Saturday, normally not a problem, except in Israel they observe Shabbat and trains and buses don't run until sunset, all we can do is take a taxi, which we're told is 100 Shekels ($26 USD). We stop a taxi and are told that it's 100 Shekels, we offer 50, he laughs and says it's not negotiable. We just came out of Egypt and Bethlehem, EVERYTHING is negotiable. The next car pulls up, same story, he says 100 Shekels, we offer 50, he laughs, we tell him we have all day, he offers 70, we get in.

We both fly out on the same day, both to German, but on different flights to
different cities (my sister is heading to Poland, I am flying to the US).
Normally this is a non-issue, not at Ben Gurion Airport, this is a big deal.

At the airport, everyone entering has to join a queue (Security Screening
Queue #1 SSQ1) and answer a few questions from Girl with Clipboard (GwC). Eventually GwC works her way through the queue to the guys in front of me, one of them is flying, the other is not, those not flying must leave the airport and say their goodbyes now, with that she sends him outside and moves her way to Administer the Questions to myself.

GwC: Where are you flying?
Me: Germany.
GwC: Passport?
Me: *hands passport* here you go.
GwC: It says here you have recently been to Egypt.
Me: That's correct.
GwC: What was the purpose of that visit?
Me (thinking it's none of her business): Tourism.
GwC: Did you talk to anybody while in Egypt?
Me (no I was mute the entire time): Yes.
GwC: Do you have any friends in Egypt?
Me: Yes
GwC: Tell me their names.
Me (this is ridiculous): There was Ahmed, but we call him Brawy, a couple of
Muhammad's and a Zanoun.
GwC: Where do they live?
Me (how the f*ck should I know?): Egypt, somewhere between Alexandria and
Cairo.
GwC: Do you know anyone else at this airport?
Me (Glad we came to checkout early, this is going to be a long day): Yes.
GwC: Who?
Me: My sister.
GwC: Where is she?
Me: *point to sister*
GwC: Why are you not with her?
Me: We're on different flights.
GwC: Why are you not on the same flight?
Me (So we can target two planes instead of one): We are headed to different
cities.
GwC: Come with me.
* we walk to where my sister is being questioned by Girl with Hat (GwH) *
GwC: Is this her?
Me: Yes.
GwC to GwH: This man knows this woman, they are brother and sister and are
not flying together.
GwH: Why are you not flying together?
Me (they sure know how to pick the brightest girls to work in security): We're
headed to different cities, she's going to Poland, I'm going to visit a friend
and then to Frankfurt.

 
* GwC & GwH consult some more and seal our fates for the evening by selecting the highest threat level on their 0-9 forms and attaching them to our passports. *
We leave Security Screening Queue 1 and head to check in (a hassle free process
compared to SSQ1) receive our boarding passes and enter Security Screening
Queue 2 (SSQ2 aka we're going to go through all of your personal belongings in
public because everyone here is a terrorist until we clear them, and your
privacy doesn't mean sh*t because it's a matter of National Security).

SSQ2 has you line up with your carry on luggage in front of a large group of
tables, you head with your things to the first available table where you hand
over everything you have to another security officer who mostly ignores you as
she puts on a fresh pair of gloves, opens your bags in full view of everyone
and rummages through your things as if she's at a yard sale. She next takes a
swab of your bag and puts it into the high-tech bomb detection machine since
after all, 99.999% of passengers are terrorists until you cannot find any
traces of terrorist devices on them.

Having already admitted to making contact with Egyptians, flying out with my
sister on two flights one hour apart and not lining up together, we have been
put on the high alert status and so SSQ2 is not the easy process they would
like you to think it is.

Shortly into SSQ2, another security officer approaches me and the girl who was
looking through my posessions tells introduces me to Short Man (SM) who I am
to follow for further screening. For a brief second SM shows a puzzled
expression at my lack of enthusiasm for further invasive searches (they're for
National Security, invasive searches and lack of personal freedoms are only a
problem when you have something to hide).

We head to the security personell only section where I'm given a small area
sealed off with a privacy curtain.

SM: Remove your outer layer of clothing, shoes, socks and anything in your
pockets.
*SM tries to make small talk as I remove everything, f*ck him and his questions.SM: I'll be right back, I'm just taking your belongings for further testing.
* I stand there twiddling my thumbs, vowing to never return to this airport again *
SM *having returned*: Stand together, look at the wall and raise your arms,
I'm going to pat you down.
Me (Here I was thinking I'd leave with some dignity and privacy intact, way to
go Israel for taking that away and treating all tourists like terrorists): Ok.

After half an hour spent in the Intense Screening Process, I'm allowed to put
the rest of my clothes back on, retrieve my things, repack my bag and join yet
another security officer to be escorted past Security Screening Queues #3 and
#4 to the departure terminal with a smile and a sorry for the inconvenience.

F*ck her apologies, f*ck their thorough screening procedures which serve at
inconveniencing every passenger that's ever passed through the airport, and
f*ck them for wasting two hours of mine and my sister's time, the last time
we'll see each other for at least a year.

Fifteen minutes before boarding is called for my flight, my sister emerges
from her Invasive Security Screening Procedures for a quick hug, a chat, some
smiles and a last photo before I have to board my plane.

As I'm boarding the plane, we hit Security Screening Queue #5 (another X-Ray)
where they take one of my most sentimental posessions away (as it's a
potential weapon).

Israel, I hate your security policies, you need to find a better way of
handling security, you leave all of your guests with their worst impressions
of your country when they enter or leave your country, ensuring that the
impression lasts with them far longer than after their trip is over. For those
that think that the ends justify the means, is this the kind of life you want
to lead, where police can stop you on the side of the road and go through all
of your things without cause or justification?

After the Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem, Dasha and I part ways with Lisa and Tzachy and hop on the bus to Tel Aviv.

We get off the bus and take a mini bus from the main terminal to the city and start chatting with a couple of American girls onboard about a good hostel to stay at. We get off at the same stop only to find one of them has left her pack on the bus. No big deal we tell her, Dasha has done the same thing in Turkey and Cyprus, it comes back sooner or later, we tell her.

Not in Israel she says, unattended bags are routinely detonated by the IDF as they could be bombs and they proceed to tell stories about friends leaving their backpacks for a few minutes only to have them explode. There recently was a child's backpack left unattended, the detonation crew were called out and were about to destroy the bag when a little boy ran out from the crowd and to his bag, saving his favourite stuffed toy from certain doom.

We stay with the girls while they wait for the minibus to return, they keep flagging down other vans to explain the story. Half an hour later, a young guy runs up from the other side of the street and returns the girl's backpack.

The driver had discovered a bag that was unaccounted for, one of the passengers panicked and was about to call the police when the driver remembered about the American girls that were helping the two tourists (us) and realised it was their bag. He dropped all of the passengers off at the same spot to take the next minibus, turned the car around and raced back to where he had dropped us off to return the bag.

The glee on the girls face was fun to watch, she didn't care about most of her belongings, except for this one dress that she always wore when she went out, it was her "lucky dress".

Tel Aviv Skyscraper and matching Art Piece

In Tel Aviv, we walk around, visit the beach and talk about future plans before a night out with drinks to celebrate our journey together.

Tel Aviv beaches at night.

After the Christmas church service in Bethlehem, we party late into the night and end up missing the last bus back to Jerusalem.

Sister with apple hookah (shisha, waterpipe) and partying with African Christians out in the streets. 

Bethlehem at night

We start walking back towards Jerusalem and eventually pick up a couple of companions, a pair of guys who were following us with great curiosity. We chat about life and before you know it, we've reached the West Bank Wall (that big wall that Israel builds to make it incredibly difficult for Palestinians to get around, claiming it's for the protection of Israelis).

Compared to the barren "Israel" side of the wall, the "Palestinian" side is far more alive, with varying amounts of political graffiti including that of Banksy and Pink Floyd's Roger Waters.

We arrive at the border consisting of a large gate for cars staffed by IDF soldiers, and a small caged walkway for pedestrians.

Image sourced from The People's Voice.

After entering the tunnel, we reach a large warehouse building with a series of gates, each dead bolted closed. No staff are visible, all of the doors are locked. After waiting twenty minutes, we eventually head back outside to the gate where the cars pass, where the IDF soldiers are, we tell them that the gate is locked, they tell us to leave.

We head back to the warehouse and wait, eventually one of the gates is unlocked and we head into the next room, a turn-style ensures only one person can enter at a time, a soldier sits in a booth behind bullet proof glass, takes our passports and asks us where we've been, who we've spoken with and what we're carrying. The entire process is as clinical as possible and we are grateful when we are able to leave out of the other side one hour after reaching the gate.

Not even ten kilometres separate the two cities, yet they are worlds apart.
Jerusalem is under Jewish control and has a European feel to it. It's clean,
buses are new and operate on time, prices are fixed and no one is interested in
getting to know you.

Bethlehem, on the other hand is under Palestinian control, and is a city of people excited to meet you, to learn your story and to drink tea with you. The people are far
poorer than in Jerusalem (not including East Jerusalem) and yet, appear
friendlier.

We had the pleasure of visiting Bethlehem during Orthodox Christmas on the 6th of
January (Orthodox Churches use the Julian Calendar and not the Gregorian Calendar). At the time, the city was buzzing. The heads of many churches were present, the Syrian, Coptic and Ethiopian Orthodox Archbishops and the Patriarch of the Greek Orthodox Church.

Procession of Greek priests outside of the Church of Nativity, and the Patriarch of the Greek Orthodox Church inside the Church.

Ethiopian Orthodox (Left) and Coptic Orthodox (Right) services.

Birthplace of Jesus Christ.

There was a high presence of reporters during the service, my family in Moscow
had a pleasant surprise when they found my sister on the news, standing next to
a reporter.

Dasha Kruchkoff, my sister, fellow travel enthusiast and amazing writer.

When I was standing around outside, a group of Palestinian children decide to
show me around the church. They take me to the areas which are closed off for
the day, namely the Catholic part of the church and all the tombs underneath
it.

My Palestinian tour guides and the secret catacombs of the Church of Nativity.

The service goes well into the evening with partying in the streets.