Out of the Customs Building, we negotiate a mini-bus to Jerusalem. There we will negotiate a mini-bus to the Al Qalandia Checkpoint. There we will then figure out how to get to The Office in Ramallah. Since Zuzu is now definitely stuck in Bethlehem over the night, we are constantly on the phone with Mohammed.
We pass Jericho and see the Dead Sea far far away.
The bus center in Jerusalem is right next to the famous Jerusalem Hotel. We decide we need to take a coffee break, celebrate that we made it, and regroup for a bit before we head to Qalandia. We can’t take too long because since its Rosh Hashanah, the checkpoint will close soon after 5pm.
The Jerualem guy says, “Ohhh Americans. Don’t worry. We love Americans. We just don’t like your President.”
Glad we are keeping good company, that makes six of us.
We thought we were in a mini-bus with permission to go through the checkpoint, but instead the bus pulls over. We are unsure if this is an operation that will require us to pay someone else, but we take our gear and go. It takes tricky maneuvering to get our stuff and the artwork through the heavy turnstiles. But we and the art survive it. No one checks our passports going in. However there is a long line of people trying to get out.
We regroup yet again and try to figure the best way to get to The Office. Mohammed is waiting there with Haneen, who is another journalist and editor. While we negotiate with a van, the ugly grey wall is everywhere in the distance. It encloses the entire city of Ramallah, like a prison. Driving and playing in Ramallah, you don’t feel it. But when you get to the borders you see it winding like a snake. Its even more obvious in Bethlehem. I’m confused as to whether its purpose is to keep Palestinians out of places or to hold them in. But its there.
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