Checkpointless: by Saarif Nashashibi> <META NAME="Keywords" CONTENT="British Arabs, Arab in Britain, UK Arabs, Arab associations, Arab news iraq palestine syria jordan lebanon kuwait saudia arabia oman yemen united arab emirates uae dubai abu dhabi ajman alsharja alshariqa al ain qatar hadramout sydan darfour llibta tunisia algeria morocco djibout moritania arab league sahara moor islands uk britian europe france asia north association society media news peace war intifada resistance baghdad mosul basrah najaf ramadi falouja cairo damascus amman beirut cairo alexandria asuit khartoum on darman tripoli algier ribat racism xenophobia race relation islam christianity islamophobia anti-arabis jews kurs turks persian albans turkmans cannanite usa america bahrain manama london england scotland wales muslims christians history equality freedome justice victory democracy life seculrism globalists globalism kingdom republic jamahiriya newspapers journals arabic language english language العراق سوريل لبنان الاردن فلسطين مسرالخليج العربي السعوديه ال&شمال افريقيا امريكا #1575;مارات دبي ابو ظبي الدمام الرياض اليمن عمان الكويت ليبيا السودان الجزائر تونس مراكس موريتانيا الرباط عجمان ا القرى نواكشوط عمان بغداد دمشق القاهره الاسكندريه بيروت ديمقراطيه اسلام مسيحيه يهوديه العنسرسه السلام العلمانسه ملمون اوربا تركيا ايران برسطانيا فرنسا جمعيات اعلام صحافه انترنيت المملكه المتحده الولايات المتحده ام درمان المقاومه الوحده السياسه الثقافه الاصلاح انتخابات الطب اطباء عرب الامراض اسماعيل الجليلي الموسل نينوى النسيج شبابسك مواقع المهجر امراض العيون الرمد الزواج الهجره المهجر : د. اسماعيل الجليلي "> <META NAME="Description" CONTENT="NABA is dedicated to Arab issues and the role of Arabs in British life. It is open to all individuals and organisations interested in Arab culture and affairs"> <META NAME="Keywords" CONTENT="NABA British-Arabs Arab-British UK Arab associations Arab news diaspora arab civil rights racism xenophobia media dr ismail jalili anti-discrimination iraqi syria lebanon jordan palestine kuwait emirate united arab emirates uae dubai abu dhabi om ajman al ain qatar oman saudi arabia yemen eden egypt libya sudan darfour djubouti tunisia algeria morroco moritanis western sahara use european arabs australian arabs baghdad cairo damascus amman beirut jerusalem cairo triploli allepo mosul basrah kurd turk turkoman persian iran turkey police trade union comission for racial equality cre media stereotyping aljalili"> <META NAME="Author" CONTENT="NABA"> <meta name="rating" content="general"> <meta name="revisit-after" content="31 Days"> <meta name="expires" content="never"> <meta name="distribution" content="global"> </head> <body> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="#DDDDDD"> <tr> <td width="4%"> </td> <td width="91%"> </td> <td width="5%"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="4%"> </td> <td width="91%"> <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="105%" style="width:105.98%; mso-cellspacing:0cm;mso-padding-alt:0cm 0cm 0cm 0cm"> <tr> <td width="589" valign="top" style="width:441.75pt;padding:0cm 0cm 0cm 0cm"> <p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Arial" size="2"><b><span style="color: #000099"><a name="Checkpointless">Checkpointless</a></span></b><br> </o:p></font><font face="Arial" size="2"><br> 9 <font class="content">June 2005 </font></font> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font class="content" face="Arial" size="2">By Sharif Hikmat Nashashibi</font> </p> <p><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content">This article, by <a href="http://www.arabmediawatch.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=2828">Arab Media Watch </a>chairman , was originally published in the British-Arab magazine <u><a href="http://www.sharq.co.uk/">Sharq</a></u>.</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content">Travel is fast overtaking weather as Londoners’ favourite gripe, and in this respect, many of us have a love-hate relationship with mayor Ken Livingstone - we love him for condemning occupation, oppression and injustice, but hate the worsening state of commuting.<o:p> </o:p> </font></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: 101.25pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1"><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content"> </font></span><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content"><o:p> </o:p> </font></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content">Eager traffic wardens, endless road works, the congestion charge, perpetual tube delays, the rising cost of public transport…we have a lot to complain about, right? Months ago I would have agreed, but working recently in </font></span><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content"><st1:City> <st1:place> <span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB">Palestine</span></st1:place> </st1:City> <span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"> for the UN Development Programme really put things into perspective, and made me realise how lucky us Londoners have it.<o:p> </o:p> </span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content"><o:p> </o:p> </font></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content">I will share with you my first journey out of Ramallah to visit relatives in </font></span><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content"><st1:City> <st1:place> <span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB">Jerusalem</span></st1:place> </st1:City> <span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB">, not because it was worse than any other, but because it was a shock to the system that prepared me for what would be a weekly ordeal.</span></font></p> <font class="content" color="#505050"> </font> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content">The ride on the “service” (shared mini-van taxi) got progressively bumpier as we drew closer to the newly “upgraded” (i.e. more prison-like) Qalandia checkpoint, with pot-holed roads turning into rocky dirt-tracks.<o:p> </o:p> </font></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content"><o:p> </o:p> </font></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content">“Services” are not allowed through checkpoints, so everyone had to get off before crossing. The scene was chaotic. Cars were stuck in a traffic jam as far as the eye could see. The wall </font></span><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content"><st1:country-region> <st1:place> <span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB">Israel</span></st1:place> </st1:country-region> <span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"> is building on Palestinian territory dissected the entire landscape, with slabs of concrete dwarfing everything in the vicinity, separating the local community, forcing shops out of business and swallowing up what was once a Palestinian airport. A huge paint-bombed sniper tower watched over the masses. Vendors sold “caak” bread that had hardened and dried under the blazing sun.<o:p> </o:p> </span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content"><o:p> </o:p> </font></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content">The human traffic leading to the checkpoint was immense, claustrophobic and intensely uncomfortable in the sweltering heat. Though the queue was not moving, everyone seemed remarkably calm, resigned to their powerlessness. Teenage Israeli soldiers sat on large concrete blocks in the shade, pointing machine guns at the crowd below, laughing at the elderly, men carrying heavy bags and women holding crying babies. Once in a while, the soldiers would let four people at a time through a set of revolving bars. The place resembled a cattle market. I spotted someone I knew who told me he had to go through this twice a day for work.<o:p> </o:p> </font></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content"><o:p> </o:p> </font></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content">After almost an hour, I was let through to the queue at the second stage of the checkpoint. After some time, a female soldier said something to me in Hebrew that I did not understand. She repeated impatiently, her pointed machine gun making me extremely nervous. A Palestinian told me I had to empty my bag and pockets, after which I was waved through to the queue at the third stage of the checkpoint, where soldiers check your passport and papers.<o:p> </o:p> </font></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content"><o:p> </o:p> </font></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content">Eventually, there was just one other person in front of me, an Egyptian who was told he did not have the right papers. He explained that this was his first time here, he did not know what papers he needed, and he had been waiting for ages. “It’s also your last time,” said the soldier abruptly, “so turn back”. <o:p> </o:p> </font></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content"><o:p> </o:p> </font></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content">I gave the soldier my British passport and UN card. “How are you?” asked the soldier. I did not want to lie and say I was fine, but I did not want to vent my frustration, so I said nothing. “I said, how are you?” he repeated sternly. “I’m very late for an appointment,” I replied. “You don’t know how tough it is for us here,” he said. I stared incredulously, but bit my tongue.<o:p> </o:p> </font></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content"><o:p> </o:p> </font></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content">He proceeded to ask me a barrage of questions, the answers to most of which could easily be found in my passport and UN card. What is your name? Where are you from? Are you an Arab? Do you speak Arabic? Do you have Arab friends or relatives here? Where are you staying? Where are you going? Why are you here? Who are you working for? How long have you been here? How long are you staying? These questions, and many more, were repeated ad nauseum, as if in an attempt to catch me out. Eventually the soldier seemed to get bored. “Have a good day,” he said sarcastically.<o:p> </o:p> </font></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content"><o:p> </o:p> </font></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content">I walked through the checkpoint towards the depot of banged-up “services”, women begging on the dirty ground for shekels. “Services” do not leave until they are full, so having boarded one to Jerusalem, we had to wait almost half an hour, baking in an oven of dust, flies and religious music. As we started passing Israeli military vehicles, I was never so thankful for a breeze.<o:p> </o:p> </font></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content"><o:p> </o:p> </font></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content">After 10 minutes, we crawled to a halt in front of a line of other “services”. A Palestinian passenger, noticing my curiosity, said this was another checkpoint. My heart sunk. After some time, a teenage Israeli soldier boarded, demanding to see IDs. Hands raised immediately. He stared at my passport and UN card, which stood out among the rest. I thought, naively, that these would assure my passage, but the soldier gestured with his finger for me to get out. He led me to a stone-faced soldier in a booth, who while looking at my documents, asked me again and again exactly the same questions I had answered earlier, though this time I had the pleasure of another soldier behind him laughing at me continuously. <o:p> </o:p> </font></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content"><o:p> </o:p> </font></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content">The laughter became uncontrollable when I explained I was working for the UN. “Who?” asked the soldier. “The United Nations,” I replied. “Who are they?” he asked. At this point I snapped. “What exactly is so funny?” I asked. The laughter stopped immediately. “Don’t worry,” said the soldier, “we can send you back if we want,” at which point he threw my passport and UN card at me. They hit my chest and fell to the ground. I picked them up and returned to the bus, deeply embarrassed that I had made the other passengers wait 45 minutes in the heat. However, they showed me no hostility – they had all been through this before.<o:p> </o:p> </font></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content"><o:p> </o:p> </font></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content">We approached huge hilltops with pristine rows of houses. “Are we in </font></span><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content"><st1:City> <st1:place> <span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB">Jerusalem</span></st1:place> </st1:City> <span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB">?” I asked my neighbour. “No, these are settlements,” he replied. All of a sudden, there was nothing impressive or beautiful about them. These are illegal colonies on Palestinian land, overlooking Arab slums, completely surrounding </span><st1:place> <span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB">East Jerusalem</span></st1:place> <span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"> and cutting it off from the rest of the </span><st1:place> <span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB">West Bank</span></st1:place> <span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB">. It is easy, in fact logical, to think of settlements and the wall with hostility, but nothing prepares you for the bitterness one feels when seeing them in real life.<o:p> </o:p> </span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content"><o:p> </o:p> </font></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content">I walked in to my relatives’ house drenched in sweat, furious at my journey and frustrated that they had waited several hours to take me to the </font></span><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content"><st1:place> <span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB">Dead Sea</span></st1:place> <span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB">, when Ramallah is only 20 minutes drive from </span><st1:City> <st1:place> <span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB">Jerusalem</span></st1:place> </st1:City> <span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB">. The sun was beginning to descend, but they insisted on going anyway. On the way, I recounted my experience. “This is nothing,” said one of my cousins. “You’re British. Palestinians have it much worse.” But my anger was fuelled precisely by my awareness of this fact, this daily, tortuous degradation and vice-like control that is not deemed newsworthy in the West.<o:p> </o:p> </span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content"><o:p> </o:p> </font></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content">A swim in the </font></span><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content"><st1:place> <span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB">Dead Sea</span></st1:place> <span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"> and a picnic with family put me in better spirits. The sun may have gone down by the time we got there, but every star in the universe seemed to be out that night. However, I was plunged back to frightening reality when we packed our things and my cousin and I walked back towards the car. We were the last to leave the beach, and as she spoke to me in Arabic, an Israeli military jeep started circling around us. The five soldiers stared at us expressionless as I started hearing rapid clicking, the sound of them firing empty machineguns pointed at us.<o:p> </o:p> </span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content"><o:p> </o:p> </font></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content">In the first split second of hearing that sound, I went cold and my thoughts turned immediately to British photographer Tom Hurndall, who was killed by an Israeli soldier in the Gaza Strip while shepherding Palestinian children to safety. We had no witnesses. The soldiers could have killed us and claimed we were attacking them - another needless, grim reminder of the powerlessness of being an Arab in the </font></span><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content"><st1:place> <span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB">Holy Land</span></st1:place> <span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB">.<o:p> </o:p> </span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content"><o:p> </o:p> </font></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content">We said nothing on the way back to </font></span><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content"><st1:City> <st1:place> <span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB">Jerusalem</span></st1:place> </st1:City> <span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB">. I was deep in contemplation at the events of the day. Though I had to be at work at </span><st1:time Minute="0" Hour="8"> <span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB">8am</span></st1:time> <span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"> the next day, I had to stay in </span><st1:City> <st1:place> <span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB">Jerusalem</span></st1:place> </st1:City> <span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"> overnight because it was too late for “services” to take me through the checkpoints.<o:p> </o:p> </span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content"><o:p> </o:p> </font></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content">This journey was to repeat itself every Friday for the three months I was in </font></span><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content"><st1:City> <st1:place> <span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB">Palestine</span></st1:place> </st1:City> <span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB">, to the point where as much as I wanted to see my relatives, I hated leaving Ramallah and usually arrived in </span><st1:City> <st1:place> <span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB">Jerusalem</span></st1:place> </st1:City> <span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"> in a bad mood. Bear in mind that for all the hassle of travelling, I never actually entered </span><st1:country-region> <st1:place> <span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB">Israel</span></st1:place> </st1:country-region> <span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"> – the troops I endured should never have been there in the first place, confining and controlling another people against its will.<o:p> </o:p> </span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content"><o:p> </o:p> </font></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content">But I guess I should count myself lucky that I could travel at all – my local friends in Ramallah could never accompany me to </font></span><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content"><st1:City> <st1:place> <span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB">Jerusalem</span></st1:place> </st1:City> <span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB">. In fact, most had not left Ramallah, a town you can drive through in 15 minutes, since the intifada started. One good friend could not visit her mother who was dying in a </span><st1:City> <st1:place> <span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB">Jerusalem</span></st1:place> </st1:City> <span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"> hospital.<o:p> </o:p> </span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content"><o:p> </o:p> </font></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content">But for those who have to go through checkpoints everyday for work, it is easy to see how hatred builds up. Indeed, just a few days after my first trip to </font></span><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content"><st1:City> <st1:place> <span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB">Jerusalem</span></st1:place> </st1:City> <span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB">, the Qalandia checkpoint was car-bombed, after which European Jews were replaced by Ethiopians. To add to the injustice, this most pervasive aspect of the occupation is perhaps least known to the outside world, where concern for Israeli security seems to over-ride the daily human rights violations inflicted on a captive civilian population.<o:p> </o:p> </span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content"><o:p> </o:p> </font></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content">If I have painted a clear enough picture of life in the occupied territories, transport yourself back to </font></span><font face="Arial" size="2" class="content"><st1:City> <st1:place> <span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB">London</span></st1:place> </st1:City> <span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB">. Do we still have it so bad? At least our wardens are not heavily armed and trained to kill. At least </span><st1:City> <st1:place> <span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB">London</span></st1:place> </st1:City> <span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"> is not dotted with checkpoints manned by people from another country. At least we are able to leave our neighbourhoods, go to work, meet friends, see relatives, do the everyday things we take for granted, that every human being should take for granted. At least our city is not being forcibly colonised or ripped apart by a grotesque wall. Ariel Sharon for mayor, anyone?</span></font><font class="content" color="#505050"><span lang="EN-GB" style="FONT-SIZE: 8pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p> </span></font> </td> </tr> </table> <p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Arial" size="2"> <o:p> </font> </p> </td> <td width="5%"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="4%"> </td> <td width="91%"><font face="Arial" size="1"><a href="#Checkpointless">Top of the page</a></font></td> <td width="5%"> </td> </tr> </table> </body> </html>