This was the first feature article I wrote. And, as is often the case, the most interesting story is the back story. This story deals with the complicated and politically charged relationship between a kibbutz and a neighbouring Arab town of Qeffin in the West Bank. In my research for the article I naturally wanted to visit Qeffin and interview the mayor. I had arranged with the mayor that I enter the West Bank through a specific checkpoint and he would meet me on the other side. After winding my way through the no-man’s land between the ‘green line’ and the ‘security barrier’ I eventually found the checkpoint. I approached the checkpoint with a journalistic air of authority and feigned foreign naivety. The ‘law’ is that Israelis are not allowed in to the West Bank while foreigners are. As such, I did not speak Hebrew with the soldiers in an attempt to emphasize my Canadianism.
The soldier immediately asked to see my passport and after a quick glance noticed that my visa was expired. The soldier detained me and confiscated my passport. I sat there for over two hours. All the while calling the mayor of Qeffin to tell him I’d be late. It seemed like he expected I would encounter some trouble getting through the checkpoint. After making me wait in my car the commander reprimanded me for my expired visa and declared that “non residents are not being permitted into the area”. I turned around without an argument and resigned myself to phone interview with the mayor.
This was my first true encounter with occupation and unfortunately there was no place for it in my article.
Below is the first two paragraphs of the article. Follow the link to read it in full. I also did the photography, some of which are displayed on jpost website.
Extending an olive branch
The ancient words of the Kaddish and the muezzin danced together in the air. The rabbi, uniformed in the grey of the Border Police, stood by the grave of Yitzhak Dori swaying to the ancient rhythms. Itzik, as he was known, was killed four years ago in a terrorist attack on Kibbutz Metzer.Itzik, the secretary of the kibbutz, was on guard duty when he heard shooting. A couple on an evening stroll stumbled upon an armed man hiding in the bushes near the center of the kibbutz. The couple ran in different directions. Tirza Damari tripped on a pipe. The terrorist shot and killed her. Her companion escaped.Awakened by the gunfire, Revital Ohayon turned on the lights and ran to her children’s room. Recently divorced, she had moved to the kibbutz a couple of months earlier in an attempt to rebuild her life. The terrorist noticed the light, jumped the fence and broke into the house. He killed Revital and her two children Matan, five, and Noam, four, as she stood over them, trying to shield them.
Itzik, following the noise, drove up to the house. The killer, trying to make his escape, shot him before he got out of his car. An armed member of the kibbutz chased the terrorist away. A year after the attack, IDF special forces tracked down and killed the terrorist, Fatah gunman Sirhan Sirhan.
Itzik’s tearful widow Tamar relayed her message at his graveside, “It’s been four years, Itzik, but we continue to move forward.”
Metzer, on the Green Line east of Hadera in Wadi Ara, is home to 120 families, about 500 people. It is surrounded by the Arab towns of Baka al-Gharbiya and Meisar. According to kibbutz secretary Dov Avital, 40,000 Israeli Arabs neighbor the kibbutz. Directly across the Green Line are 20,000 Palestinians, 10,000 of whom live in the town of Kaffin, within eyeshot of the kibbutz.
