ABSTRACT
I took my first days off in everyone’s favorite vacation spot: Nablus. First I went to Huwwara, hoping to get in from the southern checkpoint, but the soldiers refused to let me through. It was getting late and I was worried about getting to Nablus before dark, but I remembered our policy of not pleading with soldiers or asking for favors. We do not ask permission for something that is our right, and we do not validate the authority of soldiers whose presence in the West Bank is to protect settlers in illegal colonies. That doesn’t mean we don’t treat soldiers with respect, but we are careful that respect does not appear as consent for their illegal actions and presence. This is something we think and talk a lot about at the IWPS house, because we wish to distinguish between the people—namely the soldiers—and the institution that they are serving, and to recognize their humanity even amidst the inhumanity of their actions and the Occupation.
