Short crossing stories

As you probably know, Israel built (is still building? I'm not sure exactly) a wall to separate it from the West Bank, aka Palestine. While there are lots of things going on with the wall (that I hope to learn about and discuss bit by bit over time), I have a couple of personal encounters which are probably better places to start.

For some background information: we are talking about a barrier that stretches a few hundred miles. The most well-known part of the barrier is concrete, in part because it makes for a massive canvas (see above left, and elsewhere on the internet). The concrete version of the wall (as opposed to layered fencing) is also well known because the concrete portion is located on a heavily-trafficked route between Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

With the help of the wall, the system of crossing between Israel and Palestine is fraught with difficulty. As I come and go (which is a luxury I touched on a little bit here), I interact with the armed security guards that man the crossings for vehicles and pedestrians. For the most part my experience is easy - my nerves from the first week or so have largely subsided. A couple of my recent experiences crossing stand out:

1. A couple weeks ago, I was entering Israel near Bethlehem. I drive under the arch in the wall where cars go (see the picture on the left) and approach the stand and two guards. Its protocol for these guards to have really scary looking weapons over their shoulder at all times. I slowly get to within a few feet. And the guard looks at me and my passport -- then he jumps back in a dramatized kind of way. He says "Whoa! America!" as if I had flashed my own kind of lethal weapon pointed his way. He was doing his own kind of joking...immediately he smiled and waved me through. I guess his joke was about the intimidation of the USA over different things in the Middle East. What do you think?

2. Yesterday as I was leaving Bethlehem, there was no line at all at the crossing. I drove up to where two guards are on the other side of the wall. Slowly approaching, the guard addressed me and I smiled at him. I had my passport open to the photo page - next to my face as if it were a look-alike contest. He took my passport in his hand and began to walk around the back side of the car. He opened the trunk to look inside, and, seeing only frisbees, shut it a couple seconds later. Back at the window, he asked me if - get this - I was related to Britney Spears :-)

I said "I don't think so...at least, she hasn't showed up at any family reunions." The guy let me through after that.