Checkpoint Travel 101 in Israel

I’ve had an eye-opening tutorial in travel through military checkpoints in the West Bank this month, getting turned away at one for not having the proper documentation, then getting barked at by Israeli soldiers at various others. I came across this surreal sign posted by Israel’s Ministry of Tourism at the checkpoint near Bethlehem. The checkpoint is covered with barbed wire and feels like an armed camp.

Inside, I got lost momentarily in the maze of turnstiles. An Israeli soldier had to direct me to the exit over an intercom. 

At another checkpoint near Ramallah, I sailed through by car with a Palestinian driver and colleague. When I asked if the international NGO logo slapped on the SUV door allowed them to pass through unhassled, my driver just smiled. “They stop us every day. That’s why we asked you to sit up front.”

Photo by Julia Ross.

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