Fadi at Qalandiya Checkpoint – And the Day We Became the Murderers

By Tamar Fleishman

At the Qalandiya checkpoint, Fadi — a disabled Palestinian fruit vendor — is humiliated by Israeli police, exposing not just his suffering, but a deeper truth.

Coming to Qalandiya on a day suspended between two memorials is like stepping into open, bleeding wounds — theirs and mine, of the past and the present.

Pain is no longer something we talk about. We simply nod in silence and swallow the words.

It becomes a part of the body, fused to the bones. As Palestinians say, only God’s mercy can soothe it.

But the bitter truth is, this is not fate. This is the doing of human hands.

These are hard, bitter days — when young girls and elderly women are forced to stand at roundabouts and intersections, begging for coins.

I’ve known Fadi for years. We’ve become friends — our meetings always come with warm smiles and greetings.

But this time, he was different. Quiet. Embarrassed. He sat beside his crates of strawberries and tray of sour cherries, withdrawn.

When I returned and asked how he was, he answered with one word: “Shitty.”

Someone nearby explained: an Israeli policeman, armed and loud, had come out of the checkpoint and shouted at Fadi, who was sitting, as he always does, at the Palestinian entrance.

“Get out of here!”

“But I’m disabled,” Fadi said, showing papers proving it.

“I don’t care. Go!” the officer roared.

But Fadi can’t just walk away. Walking is hard enough — two years ago, complications from diabetes led to the amputation of his foot in Ramallah.

To move him, from the shade he was resting in to the far-off spot where the officer said he could stay, taxi drivers helped carry him and his goods.

‘Go to Your Pals’: A Journey through the Checkpoints of Oppression

Now, he sits again beside his modest livelihood, shielding it with pieces of cardboard from the searing sun. His face lights up with a smile, even on this cruel day. He’s still ashamed.

And I couldn’t help but recall something said by a man I once knew — a man whose entire family was murdered in the Holocaust.

When asked if things could get any worse, he replied:

“Yes. It could be worse if we were the murderers.”

And that’s the truth. We are.

(Translated from Hebrew by Tal Haran – Edited by The Palestine Chronicle)

– As a member of Machsomwatch, Tamar Fleishman documents events at Israeli military checkpoints between Jerusalem and Ramallah. Her reports, photos and videos can be found on the organization’s website: www.machsomwatch.org. She is also a member of the ‘Coalition of Women for Peace’ and a volunteer in ‘Breaking the Silence’. Tamar Fleishman is The Palestine Chronicle correspondent at the Qalandiya checkpoint.