gaza from the rear view - part I

Here's my long, long overdue post about what it's like to get in and out of the Gaza Strip...

Getting in is easy. Well...if you have a special permit. You see, the Gaza Stip is a VIP only coastal paradise and they don't let just anybody in. So, it goes something like this:

From Jerusalem it's about an hour and a half drive to the crossing point Erez, which is the only point people can move between Gaza and Israel. The only other crossing point is Rafah which goes to Egypt. You can drive up to a certain point, after which you have to walk a few meters to a person sitting in a glass box and pass them your passport through a tiny little slot. After anywhere from 5 minutes to one hour you eventually get your passport back, they ask you if you have any weapons (about as useful as when they ask you in the airport check-in desk), and then buzz you through a wire gauge gate, all under the surveillance of a couple of guys with assault rifles.

You walk to the "terminal" and go through passport control where they ask you questions about where you are going, what you are going to do and how long you'll stay. You might get some bonus questions about your work and your grandfather's name. Eventually you get an exit stamp in your passport and you're allowed to continue on.

After walking through a cavernous and empty building where you a funneled through by makeshift walls, you go through a full-height turnstile and then you are outside. You wait in front of a thick metal door to open at the push of a button from somebody watching you in the security cameras and then you find yourself in the "tunnel". The tunnel is about a kilometer long cage that takes you through the no-access buffer zone on the Gaza side of the Green Line that is monitored and enforced by the Israeli Army. From time to time you see Palestinian flags planted dangerously close to the wall. It's a good thing Palestinians don't really drink (and Hamas has forbidden it in Gaza) as that could be a very dangerous party game.

Along the walk into the Strip, on the left you see what appears to be idyllic farmers fields, green in the rainy season; and on the right you see the nearby watchtower, hills of sand dunes and rubble from demolished cement and re-bar buildings, never green in the rainy season. There was a while where there were groups of youth allowed close enough to sift through the sand to pick out pieces of cement that could be used as course aggregate to be sold for construction materials. At the end of the walk is where you again pass through turnstiles and the taxis are waiting to greet you as this is as close as they can come to the wall. From there it's a short drive to the Hamas-run registration and checkpoint. You're registered as entering Gaza and you're checked that you're not bringing in any alcohol.

Then it's off to the Mediterranean beach...just past the derelict refugee camp buildings, makeshift "additions" of scrap metal and old cloth on the left and the sewage settling pond on the right which came dangerously close to overflowing into the camp three years ago. The smell of the pond is brought to the residents of the camp daily with the gentle sea breeze.

The way out is somewhat more complicated.

First stop is with the "hamza hamza" (five five) Hamas checkpoint where you "check out" of Gaza, kinda like you would at a hotel room. Then you drive the short distance to the Fatah-run checkpoint where you give your passport through a window to somebody in a mobile office who then calls ahead to the Israeli side to see if you have permission to enter. After a short time, you're given back your passport and you head through the turnstiles back into the "tunnel".

At the end you wait once again for the thick metal door to slide open, operated by somebody in the depths of the building you are about to enter. It opens with a quiet electronic metal sound and you enter a silent room that is both inside and outside that is empty except for two tables in the centre. You are to place your bags on the tables and open them up for the people watching the security cameras on the ceiling to see what goodies you have brought back with you. Then through a metal detector, which goes off every time, so I don't know what the purpose is, and you wait for the green light to tell you which turnstiles to go through. Then a few meters ahead you enter the building, which is thankfully air conditioned in the summer and nearly icy cold in the winter.

You turn to the right and go to the end of the cavernous hallway to the next turnstile. After entering, you see the first sign of life in the building. There is a person there to assist you in emptying your bag into giant white plastic trays to be scanned by the largest x-ray machine I've ever seen. After you've been relieved of everything except the clothes on your back, you are directed through a series of three glass doors operated, as it were, again by green lights.

The full body scanner is next where the body is subjected to low dosage radiation which generates an image that can show if you have a piece of paper in your back pocket...or so it seems. Then one, two, three more glass doors and the ubiquitous little green lights - green if you're lucky, if not then you wait or be sent back to the body scanner.

If you are some shade of brown, it seems that at this stage you are somewhat more likely to be asked to undergo a personal body search, though I can't say that I have any scientific data to back this up. I was always sent through the next set of turnstiles in order to wait for my bag to come out the other side and be manually searched by somebody wearing cheap, loose-fitting plastic gloves. I sometimes felt a teensy bit sorry for the people having to go through people's dirty laundry all day every day all in the name of security.

After that it was on to the "border guards" who asked a few simple questions about where I was going and then I was on my way. If you're unfortunate enough to have brown skin and/or a somewhat Muslim sounding name and/or been to some suspect countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sudan or Iran, you'll probably be there for a while. All day if you have all three characteristics.

Time to cross: 30 minutes - 5 hours
Turnstiles/gates/doors: 6 into Gaza; 16 out of Gaza
Security cameras: lost count after 20
Passport checks: 3 into Gaza; 3 out of Gaza