"The Catastrophe of One People is of the Benefit for Another People"

There is a proverb in Arabic that says,

The catastrophe of one group of people is of the benefit for another people.

It is a sad, yet true story about human nature. My idealistic heart, hopes and dreams that all people would want to do what is best and easiest for other people, but sadly, this often does not happen. I saw this statement demonstrated as I traveled back from the US, this time not through Tel Aviv, but through Jordan.

Why did I travel through Jordan? I traveled to the United States with my boyfriend Antwan. Since Antwan lives in the West Bank, he holds a Palestinian passport and must get permits to travel to Jerusalem or anywhere else in Israel proper. Even with a permit, he is not allowed to fly out of Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv. Like all other Palestinians who live in the West Bank, he must travel to Jordan and fly out of Amman. This process adds an extra day to both ends of the trip and hundreds of dollars more in transportation and border fees.


There are three border crossings into Israel from Jordan: Beit Shean in the North, Allenby in the Middle, and Eilat in the South. Palestinians with West Bank ID's may only travel through the Allenby bridge. I have now traveled from Jordan into Israel through all of these crossings and was shocked by the "business" that the Allenby bridge has become.

Traveling through from Jordan to Israel in the South is extremely simple. You simply go to Jordanian customs, pay 5 Jordanian Dinar (JD) in exit tax, walk to the Israeli side, walk through security, go through immigration and have you passport stamp, and Voilá! You're done!

Traveling through the Allenby Bridge is much more complicated. You must stand in line at the Jordanian terminal. Depending on the day, there could be thousands of people waiting. Here you must pay an exit tax of 8 JD, have your ID checked, and receive an exit stamp. Then you must wait in order to take a shuttle bus across to the Israeli terminal. This shuttle leaves every 1 to 2 hours, so you could wait a while before even leaving the Jordanian terminal. It costs 3 JD per person, plus 1.25 JD per piece of luggage.

Once on the bus, you begin to move to the Israeli terminal. You do not do this trip in one fell swoop. The shuttle will stop again in the middle of the bridge, and all passengers' ID's will be checked once again. If there are several buses in line, you could wait here for several hours.

Once you get to the Israeli terminal, a very confusing process begins. You must gather your luggage, hand over your luggage and ID to have them checked, you will stand in several lines in the process, then go through immigration where your passport is stamped and then you've arrived on the Israeli side.

For an international the process ends here. You can either take a taxi (very expensive) or pay around 10 JD to take the bus to Jerusalem. If you are Palestinian, however, you must take a bus from the Israeli terminal to the Palestinian Authority terminal in Jericho. This bus again charges per person and per piece of luggage. Finally after having all of your ID's checked again and going through information, you can take transportation from here to your home city.

There is one way to avoid all of this hassle. At the Jordanian terminal, you can decide to use VIP service. With this service, you will bypass all lines, take small cars across the bridge between the Jordanian and Israeli terminals. The price, however, is $94 per person if you are an international or 50 JD if you are a Palestinian.

Imagine if you are a family of 5 traveling and paying all of these prices per person!!

The Allenby bridge is an inefficient and/or expensive way to travel across the border, compared to the simplicity of the border in Eilat. It is a "business" of governmental customs services, bus companies, and VIP services. Everybody working here is trying to make some cash. What surprised me most of all, was the fact that it was not just Israelis benefitting from the Allenby bridge as the only border crossing for Palestinians, but also Jordanians were contributing to the confusion and price in order to benefit from the catastrophe of another group of people; a people with whom their government claims to be in solidarity.

At the Allenby bridge, this old Arabic proverb is sad, but true:

The catastrophe of one group of people is of the benefit for another people.

Photo c/o www.sixdaywar.org.