NY Times: At a West Bank Checkpoint, a Soldier's Duty Is to His Father

[La_Serpiente]

At a West Bank Checkpoint, a Soldier's Duty Is to His Father, Too

EIROT CHECKPOINT, West Bank, Jan. 23 — It happens all the time to Palestinians who work illegally in Israel: they get caught, and they get expelled to the West Bank or Gaza Strip.

Adel Hussein's turn came on Friday.

Caught by an Israeli policeman, driven in an army jeep across this fortified checkpoint and dropped on a lonely stretch of West Bank road, he stood at dusk near an empty bus shelter, shivering, uncertain, waiting.

He had more reason than most expelled Palestinians to get back to Israel, and maybe more cause for hope of doing so: his son was racing from southern Israel to his side, and his son is an Israeli combat soldier.

"It'll be O.K.," Mr. Hussein, 52, said with a warm smile, if, perhaps, with a bit less than his usual confidence.

more...

At a West Bank Checkpoint, a Soldier's Duty Is to His Father, Too

Free Registration Required