wfn.org | Checkpoint Kalandia

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

World Council of Churches Press Feature No. 13
For Immediate Use
26 September 2002

Checkpoint Kalandia
By Royal Orr

This is the second story in a three-part series on the accompaniment
programme.

The team from the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme (EAPPI) in Palestine 
and Israel was gathered on a hill overlooking the Israeli checkpoint on the 
road from Jerusalem to Ramallah. A young soldier patrolled around a pillbox 
on a nearby hillside. In the distance, the Palestinian town of Ramallah 
baked in the mid-afternoon sun.

Marita Roos and Marit Jorgensen, experienced conflict observers from Sweden 
and Denmark, were explaining to Ecumenical Accompaniers how to assess the 
security of the situation. They were also giving pointers about what to 
observe and what to record at checkpoints as part of a week of training for 
EAPPI participants.

The checkpoint had two control points about half a kilometer apart. Several 
rifle-carrying soldiers in helmets and flak jackets searched cars and 
checked ID cards. An older commander stood bareheaded under the meagre 
shade of an Israeli flag that flapped in the hot breeze.

One of the ecumenical accompaniers pointed towards Kalandia. An ambulance 
was stopped at the far control point with its blue lights flashing. The 
team began counting. After 20 minutes, the accompaniers made their way 
through the pedestrian line-ups, waiting under camouflage netting until the 
soldiers allowed them to cross through.

On the Kalandia side, Bernt Jonsson approached the ambulance driver, who 
invited the accompaniers to meet the patients inside.
.../...

"The driver says that the soldiers told him that he had to have a 
permission form in English to cross," explained Bernt. "His is only in 
Arabic. They're waiting for permission from higher 
up." 

Several members of the team went to the back of the van. A six-month-old 
girl who had recently undergone surgery was inside with her mother and 
father. They were attempting to get to a hospital in Jerusalem for a 
checkup. Another man sat in the corner.

The doctor who accompanied the ambulance said that the man suffered from 
mental illness, and that he was being transferred to a specialized 
facility. With Marita's assistance, Bernt asked if it would help if the 
EAPPI team spoke with the soldiers at the control point. The driver said 
that it might.

"What can they do to make it worse?" added the father in frustration. 
"Shoot us? That would just be normal."

Bernt and Marita went with Heidi Hansen and Anne-Lene Kjfldgaard, both 
medical students, to speak to the Israeli soldiers. Another accompanier, 
Brigitta Bvckmann, stood by the ambulance door in quiet conversation with 
the mother of the sick child.

The waiting traffic stretched out of sight towards Ramallah. Alongside the 
ambulance, two men were being forced to completely unload a moving van full 
of carpets and furniture.

The accompaniers talked with the young checkpoint guard for several minutes.

"The soldier says the problem isn't a permit," reported Marita when the 
small delegation returned. "The man who they claim is mentally unstable has 
no identity papers. They are refusing him entry, but are willing to let the 
family through if he is left behind."

Bernt and Marita gave this information to the ambulance driver.

The group then discussed how to proceed. Time is short for any activity in 
the intensive week of training provided for the ecumenical accompaniers, 
including this visit to Kalandia. But many of them felt responsible for the 
people in the ambulance. Everyone was unsure if anything more could be done.

The EAPPI team decided to leave. The accompaniers went through the control 
line and began the walk back to the Jerusalem side of the checkpoint. Their 
path was lined with concrete barricades, razor wire and high metal fencing.

As the accompaniers talked quietly among themselves, a Mercedes limousine 
festooned with white streamers and flowers passed by on its way to 
Ramallah. Inside sat a slim young man in a tuxedo; his bride was at his 
side, veiled in white.	
    .../...
At the control point on the Jerusalem side, the next vehicle in the wedding 
party convoy was stopped. It was a mini-bus filled with Palestinian women 
and children who were singing and clapping praise for the newly-weds. An 
Israeli soldier clapped her hands with them as she stepped back to let them 
pass.

Frustration and hope. Afterward at a debriefing session in Jerusalem, the 
group would explore the inevitable tensions of being an observer and an 
accompanier in a conflict situation.

EAPPI is an ecumenical programme of the World Council of Churches.
For more information on the programme, reports from the accompaniers, and 
photos, see:
http://wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/international/palestine/eap.html

Royal Orr is a senior consultant with Columbia Communications in Canada and 
president of the video production company N.E.X.T. Productions. He is also 
the host of The United Church of Canada's national religious affairs 
programme, Spirit Connection. He was in Jerusalem in August 2002 to assist 
the local EAPPI orientation.

For further information, please contact the Media Relations Office,  tel: 
+41 (0)22 791 64 21

**********

The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a fellowship of churches, now 342, 
in more than 100 countries in all continents from virtually all Christian 
traditions. The Roman Catholic Church is not a member church but works 
cooperatively with the WCC. The highest governing body is the assembly, 
which meets approximately every seven years. The WCC was formally 
inaugurated in 1948 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Its staff is headed by 
general secretary Konrad Raiser from the Evangelical Church in Germany.

World Council of Churches
Media Relations Office
Tel: (41 22) 791 6153 / 791 6421
Fax: (41 22) 798 1346
E-mail: media@wcc-coe.org
Web: www.wcc-coe.org

PO Box 2100
1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland