Maybe if I wasn’t already aware of numerous cases like this I could still be shocked. But, sadly, it’s pretty much the norm and will continue to be so through the forseeable future.
Why does it happen? Well, how far into the reasons do you want to delve? At the top lies the fact that Palestinian suicide bombers have used the pretext of trying to rapidly usher someone in urgent need of medical attention quickly through the checkpoint, only to subsequently have them explode a bomb taped to their stomach in a place crowded with civilians. Explosives have been found in ambulances too, ferrying them through checkpoints to kill more Jews. Those acts, and the reticence they produce to ever let it occur again, are part of the reason no more in urgent need are whisked through to possibly repeat the horror.
Another reason is that so many have been killed on either side that it’s become both the common opinion of those manning the checkpoint, as well as their superiors, that the Palestinian life isn’t worth saving. You see enough of your fellow soldiers die, you have a family member killed, you ferry enough Israeli citizens and/or their body parts to the hospital and morgue and you simply no longer give a shit about a Palestinian life. If fact, you maybe relish their passing. Young fighter, old man, pregnant mother, it matters not.
We know it’s not right, standing here thousands of miles away and out of harm’s way, but I honestly can’t say that with roles reversed I’d not duplicate the sentiment. The sentiment’s shared by both sides, understandably so, and we’d quite likely be no different.
I saw a show recently wher a British (I think) news crew identified themselves to an Israeli checkpoint at night, started to proceed and were fired upon, killing the producer. Later in the program a European aid worker was hit by an Israeli sniper as he conversed with children. He waited for some agonizing length of time for them to let him through the checkpoint and, I think, later died. The Israelis were fully aware he was a Brit as negotiations the get him from Gaza to a better stocked Israeli hospital went through the embassy. It mattered not. Permission was painfully, lethally slow. That show drove home to me some perception, limited still, of just how much these two peoples hate each other.
I’m not surprised at what you describe. Not one bit and I can’t for the life of me imagine any sort of resolution. It just keps getting worse and worse.
I’m empathetic toward both sides but what a horribly fucked up situation it must be when you don’t care about a dying mother and child. What could possibly be worth such a price?
