Chapter One: Preloge

I had a crazy day yesterday. Full of contrasts, contradictions and strong impressions, it was difficult to digest - and now to express. Many of the experiences I had are nearly indescribable and to truly grasp requires one to live them, but the hardest part is first and foremost to agree with yourself on what should be rendered and what should be left out. Each single impression in itself was not so unique or complex, but in a time frame of 7-8 hours, I can’t sum up the day as anything other than crazy. Therefore, this blog is in chapters.

It was Friday, and I had scheduled to travel to Jerusalem for Friday prayers – The Jumm’a. It’s Ramadan, and I hadn’t yet been in Jerusalem to al-Aqsa mosque for Jumm’a, so I was determined to get there. Another significant reason to go there on a Friday was to experience what happens at Qalandia checkpoint on Fridays. Qalandia, as told previously, is the checkpoint between Ramallah and Jerusalem. After the apartheid wall (or security fence as some call it) became reality 4-5 years ago, this checkpoint has been very notorious because all travel through Ramallah to Jerusalem passes through it, causing serious delays in everyday life. A journey that normally should take 20-30 minutes now takes at least 45 minutes.

I knew through stories from my fellow students that Israelis close this checkpoint on Fridays and people are queuing for hours in order to travel to the al-Aqsa mosque. Me, Dave and Debbie (my two American friends) arrived at Qalandia at around 10:45 AM with a taxi that normally would drive us all the way to Jerusalem. We were greeted by a large number of parked buses and taxis that were stopped on the Ramallah side of Qalandia, and we all had to walk on foot to the checkpoint to cross it. So we did. Approaching the checkpoint, we were soon among hundreds of people, young and old, men and women. All with the hope of crossing over to the Jerusalem side. The UN was represented by a couple of representatives who tried to facilitate and organize the people the best they could, Clustered among all the civilians were Israeli soldiers walking around with their fingers located on the trigger guards of their M16s, and looked pretty scary. Right in front of us, this young boy, in his late teens was pulled out of the crowd and zip tied his hands behind his back – to us for unknown reasons. No real drama in itself, but when three well-armed soldiers apprehend and drag a young boy for about 100-150 m. past the rest of the crowd. To me the scene suddenly became very dramatic - at least for a tender soul as mine.

Odds are most of the people present were probably on their way to al-Aqsa mosque. Al-Aqsa mosque is the third holiest place on earth for the Muslims, known to be the place where Mohammed ascended to heaven, and among the places all Muslims are encouraged to go visit. Of course, there are many other mosques in Ramallah and other nearby areas that can be used for Friday prayers. And many do use them, because then people don’t have to be lined up, humiliated and degraded in this way every Friday, but to put it differently, not all mosques are alike. There is a distinction between Masjid (small mosque) and al-Jami'a (large mosque as al-Aqsa) in Arabic.

The Masjid being the local mosques in every neighbourhood where people do their daily prayers, and al-Jami'a (from the root Jam'a – meaning many people/ or to gather) used for Friday prayers. Friday is called Jumm'a (from the same root as the last) in Arabic and is a day where Muslims gather. This said, these translations are not totally accurate, but that’s the essence. So, on Fridays people are urged to use a Jami’a for their Friday prayers, and not the local masjids. With regard to the al-Aqsa mosque’s religious significance, it is perhaps somewhat more understandable why such a large majority of people in the villages/towns around Jerusalem are using their holiday/ day off to travel to Jerusalem for Friday prayers, despite the humiliations it may cost. The holy month of Ramadan magnifies it even further, both the urge to get there and the humiliations sufferied in the process.

But now, we were soon to to start our journy across the Qalandia checkpoint.