Why does the Occupation Continue?

Why is the occupation of Palestinian Territory by the Israeli government able to continue? This is a question I often ask myself. Many times I hear of things that are happening within Israel-Palestine and wonder how the Israeli government can get away with such things. I say to myself, if people could only experience and hear a few of the stories, they would be in awe of what goes on as well. Even a short list includes: home's being demolished; plans for settlement expansion even though Israel has committed to freezing settlements numerous times; families being evicted from their homes in the middle of the night and being forced to live in tents, which the military then destroys; The court agreeing with settler's claims to Palestinian homes even though these families have land deeds dating all the way back to the Ottoman Empire; Christians being blocked from worshiping at the Church of the Holy Sepulcre on Easter; new rules that require Palestinians from the West Bank who have been given permits to go to Israel to check in at a West Bank checkpoint every single night; strip searches at the airport of Palestinians who are even Israeli citizens. These are only a few stories that I have recently heard. The stories only continue to get worse and create more restrictions for Palestinians.

How, despite these appalling stories, can Israel keep doing things that make Occupation worse and peace a quickly fading dream? Part of the answer to this question I learned the other day: desensitization. The potency of the occupation is that people began to get used to new rules and restrictions. Once they get used to these rules, more can be added with less resistance. Restrictions, laws, and losses are then able to increase and the occupation continues to worsen.

As I walked through the Qalandiya checkpoint, between Jerusalem and Ramallah, the other night, I realized that I too had succumbed to desensitization. It is surprising what one gets used too. If there is a checkpoint between me and where I want to go, I just deal with it. I automatically calculate the 30 minutes extra it will take me to get home because I have to walk through a checkpoint. I walk through numb, not even thinking about how dehumanizing it is to have your movement monitored at every moment because you are suspected of being a terrorist. The process of desensitization is different for me, however, because, as an international, I am not labeled as a terrorist, I just must go through because checkpoints are there. My process of desensitization is different, because it is not about lacking emotion for how I am treated, but for how those around me are treated.

The other night, however, I could not ignore the dehumanizing character of checkpoints. A man went through the checkpoint right in front of me. He did not have the correct papers, so the soldier began to question him. From the little Arabic I understand, he was trying to go to the hospital. After a couple minutes of arguing, the soldier turned him around and sent him back through the check point. At first my attitude was insensitive, "oh, just another person who doesn't have the right papers being turned back. It happens all the time". As he came back through the turnstile, however, I saw tears in his eyes and a look of defeat on his face. After going back through, his shoulders drooped as he explained his dilemma to some men on the other side. My heart wrenched at the thought of a girl in her young twenties being able to make a man feel so low, and not allowing him to go to the hospital for whatever reason he had. I do not blame her, however, but the system which promotes this kind of behavior and makes every Palestinian suspect of terrorism, even though most are simply family men and women trying to live their lives.