by EA P. Morgan, Bethlehem team. 

“The checkpoint takes all that man has, all his efforts, all his time, all his nerve… The checkpoint is the chaos and the order, it is within the law and outside of it, operating by rationality and idiosyncrasy through order and disorder.” Azmi Bishara, ‘Checkpoints: Fragments of a Story’ (2006)

Checkpoint 300 (or Gilo Checkpoint) sits on the northern outskirts of Bethlehem and is one of the primary points for crossing the ‘Separation Barrier’ in the south of the West Bank. Buses of tour groups and pilgrims regularly pass through the vehicular checkpoint on day trips from Jerusalem to see the Christian holy sites in Bethlehem. However, fewer than 100 meters away from the passing tour buses, partially hidden, lies the beginning of the pedestrian checkpoint. Here the twittering of the birds as they play in and out of the metal bars and gates during the day provides a stark contrast to the scenes witnessed in the early mornings.

At 3:30am, men from as far as south as Hebron begin queuing at the checkpoint on their way to work (mostly in construction) around Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Stoppages and hold ups inside of the checkpoint are common despite the crowds pressing need to reach work on time. They know that if they are repeatedly late risk the loss of work permits for inside Israel. The crowded queue heaves and compresses at gates and turnstiles. Middle-aged men cry out in pain. To bypass the crowd, men clamber over the bars and along the cage-like walls forming a canopy of humanity. From here the occupied population is fed through the turnstiles of the checkpoint like a meat grinder – to emerge on the other side as a cheap workforce.

06.01.16. CP300. Man climbs bars of CP300 to avoid queue. Photo EAPPI/P. Morgan

06.01.16. CP300. Crowd attemps to join the checkpoint entrance lane. Photo EAPPI/P. Morgan

01.02.16. CP300. Men cling as they try to use the bars to bypass the waiting queue. Photo EAPPI/P. Morgan

01.02.16. CP300. Man performs fajr (dawn) prayer before joining the queue. Photo EAPPI/P. Morgan

01.02.16. CP300. Workers over the age of 55 wait to have their permits checked. Photo EAPPIP.Morgan

01.02.16. CP300. Man searches for the quickest way to make it through the checkpoint. Photo EAPPI/P. Morgan

01.02.16. CP300. The elderly and special permit holders wait for their passes to be checked in the exit lane. Photo EAPPI/P.Morgan

15.01.16. CP300. A jackhammer is carried across the checkpoint by two workers. Photo EAPPI/P. Morgan

01.02.16. CP300. Men scramble over the entrance lane bars of CP300. Photo EAPPI/P. Morgan

01.02.16. CP300. Man passes after being crushed in a crowd surge. Photo EAPPI/P. Morgan

01.02.16. CP300. Looking down the crowded entrance lane of CP300. Photo EAPPI/P.Morgan

01.02.16. CP300. Two men have a coffee before joining the morning rush. Photo EAPPI/P. Morgan

06.01.16. CP300. Architecture of the checkpoint heaves with the number of people trying to pass through it. Photo EAPPI/P. Morgan

06.01.16. CP300. Bread-seller outside the checkpoint as men arrive from villages around Hebron. Photo EAPPI/P. Morgan

01.02.16. CP300. A friend helps a man crawl under the gate of ‘the cage’ area of the checkpoint. Photo EAPPI/P. Morgan

06.01.16. CP300. A construction worker smiles while waiting in the queue. Photo EAPPI/P. Morgan

06.01.16. CP300. The humanitarian lane of CP300 has remained totally closed for months. Photo EAPPI/P. Morgan

15.01.16. CP300. Men pray fajr prayer in congregation on Jerusalem side of CP300. Photo EAPPI/P.Morgan

15.01.16. CP300. A phone credit sellers smokes after a busy morning. Photo EAPPI/P. Morgan

06.01.16. CP300. A security guards threatens to forcibly remove a man from CP300. Photo EAPPI/P. Morgan

More Information:

The Separation Barrier: background, statistics and case-studies, by B’Tselem