Internationals Banned from Street
Two days before Yom Kippur police rounded up all the internationals on the streets and told us there was a new military order restricting us from being on the streets in all of H2 (the Israeli controlled zone) and some of the Old City. My friend Inspector Ilan Malke produced the relevant document with a blurry map showing the area covered. He was very nervous and refused to negotiate anything. He agreed that since we live he we had the right to be here but refused to specify exactly where we could and could not go. We figured we were only really being restricted from Shuhada St and Tel Rumeida; the streets the settlers use. Sure enough we had no trouble anywhere else. The reason given for the restriction was that we provoke settlers with our cameras !
We expected a similar order on Yom Kippur itself since it is a day of fasting and all driving, working and using equipment is forbidden. We were surprised that no one stopped us that day. It's best not to ask the WHY question around here. I could drive myself crazy !
Yesterday we were stopped again by the soldiers at the Crossing, near Tel Rumeida settlement. They told us we were not allowed to be there on that corner. We asked to see the military order and were told it was verbal. An army officer came over and insisted that we leave. Since we had finished the school run and I wanted to go to bed we withdrew. We had no further trouble with other soldiers on that corner for the rest of the day.
This morning (Monday) we were stopped again by the two soldiers on duty. Again we asked to see the order. He went off and called on his radio so I telephoned Police Inspector Ilan Malke. He turned up a few minutes later. He said he would check if there really was a military order. If there was he would enforce it but if not we were free to come and go as we please. We waited a long time but no military order came through. They checked our passports and we were left alone. The soldiers seemed pretty mad at us but they said nothing, just glared at us. It's a strange game we all play here. Sometimes they respect the law sometimes not at all.
