Woken up with the barrel of a gun: good morning, Israel!

So my loyal readers will know that last week I schlepped back and forth to Jerusalem two days in a row in an epic and ultimately successful attempt to get the appointment, to get the interview, to get my visa. The Ministry of the Interior is as hair-pullingly frustrating as any Ministry I've encountered in the Middle East, or, ahem, Massachusetts. On day 2 I had to wake up at 6 am to make it through the checkpoint by 8 am to get in line to get into the Ministry by 9 am. Obviously, I was pretty tired from a long day the day before going from Consulate to Embassy to Embassy to Consulate.

I passed out on the bus through the checkpoint, which is pretty typical of me on public transportation even when non-fatigued. If it's moving, I'm snoozing. For those who may not be familiar with Israel/Palestine, it may be a good time in the reading of this blog to educate yourself at this fantastic website: http://www.btselem.org/English/index.asp). It's ok to fall asleep in the bus, don't worry, dear readers. Mostly because you never know what's going to happen- sometimes they make everyone get off; sometimes they just check your passport; sometimes they don't do anything but peek their heads in. So, you know, I was playing the odds.

So I was pretty heavily asleep when I feel something poking me. In my sleepy state I open my eyes and see it's the barrel of a giant machine gun. Holding the gun, grinning and chuckling, is an 18 year old Israeli soldier with a fauxhawk and mirrored aviator sunglasses. Can you just imagine that? It was like some weird nightmare, or a movie. If it were a movie, I would be closing my eyes and covering my ears and cowering in my chair. Regretfully, it wasn't a movie; it was a Thursday morning.

I admit it-- I lost my mind. Even though anyone who is experienced at living in Palestine will tell you never, ever to lose it at any sort of checkpoint/border crossing, etc. Not really out of any real safety concern but mostly because it will just prolong your misery when they make you wait, and wait, and wait. But whatever, when I get waken up by a fucking machine gun being held by a grinning 18 year old yahoo with a fauxhawk, reason sort of flies out the window. I mean, hadn't it flown out the window when this asshole decided it would be good fun to wake me up with his gun???

So yes, I lost it. I stood up and screamed at him, uncontrollable. "Are you fucking kidding me?? You think this is funny???" He visibly flinched and actually pointed his gun at me. At this juncture, we were both acting on instinct. The Palestinian lady next to me grabbed my elbow and began clucking at me, soothing me to sit down and shut up. Her touch pulled me back to reality, and I sat. The soldier lowered his gun and yelled at me to not sleep on the bus. He then conferred with his fellow soldier, a similarly young woman. I was, truth be told, extremely worried that I'd be pulled off the bus, put in a room, and forced to sit for hours while they punish me. Thankfully, the female soldier seemed to think her compatriot was as big of a clown as I did, so they left me alone after checking my passport and visa.

I waited until this week to write about this experience because at the time I was so out-of-my-mind angry that I knew this post wouldn't be articulate nor informative. So what I want to say is this:

In what sort of world does this type of abuse of power exist? The more that I spend time here, the more I am just jaw-hanging-open shocked at the pathological, institutionalized disregard for basic human rights and internationally accepted laws securing them. Educate yourself, readers, about what goes on here. On both sides. But we get a lot of one side in America, and not much of the other. The website I cited above is good, and about as unbaised as it gets.

What's going on right now in the Arab world is a rejection of this very disregard I write about. Let's all hope for the reign of right not might.