Laila Shqeirat, educational-system inspector

I am an inspector of schools in East Jerusalem, and work on behalf of the Palestinian Authority in East Jerusalem schools that are under its responsibility. I earn less than 3,000 shekels a month. I usually receive a permit to enter Jerusalem . The permits are good for three months and then have to be renewed. Many times I did not have an entry permit but managed to get to my office in Beit Hanina or to the schools because the checkpoint at the entrance to a-Sheikh Sa'ed was not staffed all the time. There were only dirt piles and sometimes Border Police. When they left the checkpoint, I would go through Jabel al-Mukaber and enter Jerusalem easily.

On 18 March 2006, the court in Tel Aviv ruled in favor of the residents of a-Sheikh Sa'ed regarding the separation fence that Israel wants to build there. We thought that the decision would solve some problems the villagers faced. However, a week after the court's decision, the Border Police set up a fixed checkpoint at the entrance to the village, which they staff it around the clock. Since then, life in the area has been intolerable. It is almost impossible to enter Jerusalem . Even if I get through the checkpoint, it takes more time and I arrive hours late to my destination. Although I have a permit to enter Jerusalem , I get to work at ten o'clock rather than seven thirty.

In general, the police do not let me enter. They say that I have to go via the a-Zaitun checkpoint, which is in al-'Eizariya. It is almost impossible to get to that checkpoint. I have to go via a long dirt path and then, full of dust, I have to find public transportation, which is not always available in a-Sawahrah a-Sharqiyah, to get to the a-Zaitun crossing. And when I cross at that point, there is no public transportation, and I have to take a taxi, which costs twenty-five shekels. I can't pay that sum day after day. If I go this way, it would cost me sixty shekels a day, and if I go via the a-Sheikh Sa'ed checkpoint, it costs me fourteen shekels.

About two weeks ago, I got to the checkpoint at around 7:00 A.M. I showed my permit to the policeman at the entrance to the village. He checked it and let me pass. I got onto a bus. After it drove a few meters, a Border Police jeep blocked its way, and the police ordered the driver to go back to the checkpoint. We went back to the checkpoint and the police told the passengers to get out. They checked our identity cards and our permits. I explained to the officer that I had a valid permit and that I had crossed the checkpoint after the policeman checked the permit. The officer told me, "I'll take away your permit." I was the only one thepolice held, and they kept me there until about 11:30. I sat there in the sun all the time. I didn't go to work that day, both because of the delay and because I had developed a headache. I was almost sick when I went home.

Today [20 June], the police at the checkpoint let me cross. I got onto the bus. About a half a kilometer down the road, the bus was stopped next to a Border Police jeep. One of the policemen got onto the bus and checked the passengers' identity cards. When he saw that I had a West Bank ID, he had me get off and delayed me. By chance, a few women from Machsom Watch were there. They tried to help me, but the police delayed me. An hour and a half passed before they returned my card to me and allowed me to pass. I got to work two and a half hours late.

The checkpoint also makes it hard for us to obtain medical services. a-Sheikh Sa'ed has no medial clinic, and the closest clinic is al-Jinan, which is about fifty meters from the entrance to a-Sheikh Sa'ed. Even though it is close, and even though my husband and I have permits to enter Israel , the police at the checkpoint do not let us cross. Our son Khaled, who is seven years old, has a medical problem. Rather than undergo surgery, he gets injections. We bought the syringe and the medicine on our own and a few weeks ago my husband wanted to take him to the clinic in Jabel al-Mukaber to get the shot. My husband told the policeman at the checkpoint that he had a permit to enter Israel , but the policeman threatened to break the syringe he had with him, and did not let him pass.

About one month ago, I bought oil and rice in Jerusalem . When I got to the entrance to a-Sheikh Sa'ed, I called my husband to come and help me carry the goods home. The policemen at the checkpoint did not let him cross even a few meters to enable him to help me. They told him to go via the a-Zeitun crossing, and to get to me from there, which meant traveling twenty kilometers rather than walk ten meters. A young guy with an Israeli ID card was there, and he saw me arguing with the policeman. He took my things and brought them to my husband.

I think the Israelis are doing this to punish us because we won in court. They are trying to turn a-Sheikh Sa'ed into a big prison.

Laila 'Abd al-Musa Shqeirat, 46, married with seven children, is an educational-system inspector and a resident of a-Sheikh Sa'ed, al-Quds District. Her testimony was given to Kareem Jubran at the witness's home on 20 June 2006.