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Invited to visit Italy, After meeting many nice people, mostly women, from Italy, I received an invitation to visit Milan. According to the major disruptions in the university academic life, the semester was extended twice. Therefore I had to reschedule the time of my trip. My hosts were so kind to me and showed great appreciation towards my circumstances. Finally my trip was scheduled to start 11th of March up to the 17th of March. The first you think of as a Palestinian who is up to travel is obtaining a permit to leave the country. To follow the procedure, I had to hire a Taxi to take me to It Zion block, an Israeli colony on the way to Hebron, where the Israeli District Coordination Office (DCO), responsible for issuing permits is sited. While in the car, moving towards the Bethlehem-Hebron road, I was thinking about why would an office in charge of Palestinian civil affairs be sited in an Israeli colony? My thoughts were interrupted by a sudden stop of the car. Israeli soldiers are blocking the road and forbidding anyone from going towards Hebron. The driver suggested that we try the road through Beit Jala. Why not? I answered. He made a u turn and headed back towards Bethlehem. Driving up hilly Beit Jala, I was distracted by the seen of bombarded homes. One in particular was the focus of my sight and thoughts, an ancient palace, recently renovated, but almost totally destroyed. The glory of the past and the misery of the current were very intermixed. Climbing the steep hill leading to the Arab rehabilitation Society was not easy. As we passed the society I could see huge piles of earth and dirt blocking the road linking to Hebron road. What do you want me to do? Asked the driver. Go back home I carelessly replied. A long the way back down the hill we kept picking up the few Hebronites who walked for long distances to reach Beit Jala. Arriving at Bethlehem, the driver suggested that we ask the taxi drivers at the Taxi station if they knew of any road that leads to Hebron and is not blocked, which we did. They mentioned that it is possible for the Road leading to herodion and Tequa' colony to be open. We were in the northwest part of Bethlehem area, 15 minutes drive from It Zion, and need to go to the southeast. So we did. Drove through Bethlehem, Beit Sahour, many of the Bedouin villages on the Judean desert until being stopped by an Israeli permanent check point. I always wonder why soldiers moves very slowly at checkpoints. After half an hour of waiting for the soldiers to talk to us, one of them came and said go ahead. The trip that was supposed to take 20 minutes at most, consumed 3 complete hours of my time and nerves. Queuing in lines is the full time job of many Palestinians. At this exact moment I was one of them. Moving slowly towards the window, at the end I managed to give my papers and was asked to leave a phone number for them to call when they have an answer. How nice, next time I will only come if I am called. The trip back was as long, but home was the destiny. On arrival I called my Italian friend Lino, informed him that I already applied. Every day I waited for the phone call but it never arrived. The departure time was approaching and I was getting more certain that I would not be allowed out. Two days before departure time, my friend Lino phoned to inform me that the Italian foreign ministry is taking care of it. Wow, I feel important. By noontime I received a call from the Italian embassy asking me to go and collect my permit. The Israeli foreign ministry informed them that it was ready. I wanted to play smart. Before heading to It Zion, I phoned and talked to someone named jasmine. After checking for a couple of minutes she told me that my permit is ready and I can come and pick it anytime I want. She even assured me that they are open until late at night and that I only need to ask the door keeper to talk to her and she will send someone to hand me the permit. Going back to It Zion block was a nightmare, but you have to do what you have to do. Repeating the same trip was what happened. Finally standing at the door, with confidence I asked the doorkeeper to call jasmine and inform her that I am here. It was raining fishes and cats. Standing in the rain it took them half an hour to send someone to the gate. He asked for my ID and said while walking away I will check and comeback to you. After standing another half an hour in the still stormy weather, he came back and said sorry you have no permit here. I was in a state of shock; I even did not bother to complain. I decided to go back home and forget about Italy. On my way back I phoned my office and told them what happened and on my decision to go back home. They asked me to wait for few minutes before doing so. Shattered between being fed up and not wanting to disappoint the Italians who invited me and prepared a nice program for me, I decided to stop the car and wait for ten more minutes. Meanwhile, the Italian Consulate was doing his best to communicate with Israeli officials. In ten minutes they phoned back to inform me that they will receive an answer in few minutes and nicely asked me to be patient. I finally picked the phone and phoned Jasmine, I could hear her shouting at someone saying that this issue is important and he should check it immediately. Finally she said your permit is ready come back and pick it. Should I believe her this time?. I was only five minutes drive away from her office so I decided to go back. I saw a soldier waiting for me with the permit in his hand. He handed me the permit and said why did you come earlier your permit was not ready yet. I locked at him turned back and walked away. Tomorrow I will go to the airport. I will not be surprised if I am turned back home. It is hard to be a Palestinian, isn't it? | ||||||||||||||||
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