I live in a settlement North of Jerusalem, Israel, in the hills of Binyamin. The area in which I live is referred to differently by different people based on their political affiliation (Israel, West Bank, Occupied Territories, Liberated Territories, Samaria). Whenever I want to go into Jerusalem (the North-Easternmost corner of the city is about four or five miles away from where I live) I drive 10-15 minutes until I reach a security checkpoint next to the Arab village of Hizmeh.
On a normal day when crossing the checkpoint, I will go through one of two lanes slowly (around 10-15 mph). One or two soldiers will take a glance at me, do their profiling bit (my license plate, car, sticker for my community, outfit, head covering, etc) and give me a wave to go through. I have never been stopped at the checkpoint, though I have seen other cars pulled over so that the soldiers can check the driver’s identification, look in the trunk, and act on any suspicions that they might have.
The overwhelming number of cars that are stopped at the checkpoint belong to and/or are driven by Arabs. Some may call this racism. After all, in a democracy, where everyone is equal, members of different ethnic groups should be stopped in percentages related to the makeup of the overwhelming population. To focus attention on one specific ethnic group is horrible, apartheid racism.
As I said, some call it racism. I call it prudence.
Let me explain: the soldiers and police who mostly pull over Arab drivers are not doing it out of a belief that Arabs are in any way inferior to Jews, or that Jews deserve special privileges. They are pulled over because 99.9% of the terrorist security threats aimed at killing and maiming Israelis originate from the Arab residents of Israel. Any one car that drives by could be an honest man on his way to work. Or it could be a terrorist on his way to blow people up. The security checkpoints exist for the sole purpose of saing the lives of Israeli citizens. It is an unfortunate fact that nearly all people who seek to kill Israeli citizens to meet political ends are Arabs. But it still is a fact, one that must be addressed each and every day.
I would like to reiterate to anyone who would read the last paragraph and say “wow, what a racist. He really hates Arabs. How would he like to be pulled over at a checkpoint on his way to work.” My response to this is that you have not been reading carefully. I wish that the checkpoints were not necessary. I wish that there was no such thing as suicide bombings and terrorist attacks. But they are a reality where I live. People who ignore reality around here put themselves and those around them in danger.
Case in point: one week ago traffic heading towards Jerusalem on the main east-west highway in Israel was stopped, somewhere in the middle of the country. Security checkpoints were set up in the middle of the road. Any car that looked suspicious was searched. Traffic backed up for 6 miles (in a country that is only 50-60 miles wide, 6 miles is quite a backup). After a short time, a van with 10 Arab men was pulled over. The driver was an Israeli-Arab and his destination was Jerusalem. The police had all of the passengers get out. One of them was carrying a belt of 13.5 kg of explosives. He was a suicide bomber on his way to Jerusalem to kill Israelis.
All of this happened because of racial profiling, and because of a security warning that was issued based on intelligence received regarding an impending terrorist attack. Thank God they took the actions that they did and stopped the murderer before he could get to his destination.
This morning when I went through the security checkpoint, things were not the same as usual. In place of three or four soldiers (for two lanes) giving everyone the once-over and occassionally checking IDs, there were four soldiers and a police officer standing on both sides of either lane. They were all concentrating hard, looking very intenensly at all of the drivers and passengers passing into the borders of Israel’s capital city. Obviously there a serious warning of an impending terrorist attack had been issued, and all of the security forces were on the lookout. I pray that they are able to do their jobs, and that no one will be hurt. And I am thankful that they are there.
(Cross-Posted on Newsvine. There has been quite an active discussion there – I thought to post it here since the readership is a bit different).
March 30th, 2006 at 19:13
Our experience in our trips to Israel was that such checkpoints didn’t necessarily confine themselves to Arabs; my husband wears a knit kippa, is tall, gingi and bearded; I wore a tichel. We were routinely stopped, our car trunk searched, questioned about our identity, asked for our passports. On foot, we were stopped entering the malls, along with almost everyone else, and asked to open our backpacks and jackets to show we were not armed or belted with explosives. Neither of us could be mistaken for Arabs. I suspect it has more to do with driving a car that is a rental with no stickers, and a spekaing heavily accented Hebrew. We were checked out because we clearly weren’t Israelis, not because we were Arabs.
March 31st, 2006 at 5:48
Clearly, based on the news of the tragic incident in the West Bank settlement of Kedumim where the murderer is believed to have disguised himself as a Jewish Hitch-hiker, nobody can trust anybody no matter what they look like. There is a clear message the applies worldwide and that is ‘do not pick up hitch-hikers’ and ‘do not hitch-hike’. Both situations can be dangerous for many reasons…not just because of terrorism.
March 31st, 2006 at 6:11
Phil – I haven’t heard about that. Do you have a link?
March 31st, 2006 at 8:18
Here is the link. Chas v’Shalom:
I pick up hitchhikers nearly every time I go into Yerushalayim. Hashem Yerachem…
April 2nd, 2006 at 0:38
I lived in Israel for 7 years, and went through many, many checkpoints over the tiem I was there. Sometimes you’re right, only the Palestinian cars get stopped, and while it’s clearly racial profiling, it’s a reaction to where the dangers lie, and the goal is saving lives, so I’m ok with it. And then there are other times when everybody is stopped, and yes Phil, I’m not surprised now is oneof those times considering the Kedumim attack. In general, I think it has more to do with the political climate at that moment and the tensions in the region than anything else – Israel definitely recognizes when danger is imminent, and reacts by tightening security everywhere, which is part of the reason we’ve been so successful at fighting terrorism. Great site, btw…first time here, but I’ll be here often.