On 'The Currency of Lies'

I've mentioned before the necessity of lies in the Palestinian Territories. You lie to get into the country (Israeli border guard: Are you going to the West Bank? You: No! I'm here to see Israel!), you lie to get through checkpoints (Israeli soldier: What are you doing here? You: I'm on a religious pilgrimage) and even when you're just talking to Israelis or Palestinians on the streets, you generally make diplomatic non-answers when asked about your movements. With the Israelis this is because you wish to avoid hostility, and with the Palestinians this is because you want to avoid offence.

I have tried to rise above this. I told the truth to the Israeli border guards at the airport - and got only a one month visa for my honesty. Fortunately, when I went to get the visa extended, I was saved from having to lie outright about what I was doing in the country since the immigration official questioning me obviously wanted to get home and so hardly asked me anything at all. At the checkpoints I have largely avoided questioning, though when I have been asked direct questions I have told the truth, though not the whole truth (Soldier: What are you doing here? Me: Travelling).

But the longer I am here, the more I see how integral lying is to the whole occupation and the more I find myself doing it. I have three different scenarios to demonstrate this.

First Scenario: Don't Side with the Enemy

I was travelling to Tel Aviv with another PAS student, R., who is from Norway. Once we reached Jerusalem we went to Jaffa Road to catch a sherut (shared taxi) to Tel Aviv. We didn't know exactly where they left from and so had to ask several people. One man was kind enough to walk us there. As we turned up the road to where they were parked, we were confronted with flashing lights and loud speakers blasting out instructions in Hebrew - the police had combed the area and were pushing everyone away. As we walked forward a few steps one of the policemen saw us and started yelling and waving us away. The man we were with tried to ask (in Hebrew) what the problem is and whether we could get to the sheruts, but the policeman just yelled something and the man turned round and led us back to Jaffa Road.

'It's a bomb,' he said, 'You know Israel, we have problems with the Arabs.'

He then proceeded to walk with us up to the Central Bus Station so we could catch a bus to Tel Aviv instead, since a sherut was no longer an option. On the way he asked us many questions: Where are we from? What are we doing here? How long have we been here? etc. etc. etc. I weaved a tale in response to his questions: we were backpackers who had been travelling Israel for a month and would return home in about two weeks. I even told him how much the youth hostel I said we stayed in the night before had cost when he asked. R. remained silent so as not to say something that would reveal my tale as the lie it was.

Perhaps I should have told him the truth. Perhaps it was my duty to tell him the truth. But right then and there, I didn't even think about it - the false tale sprang out of my lips before I even knew what I was saying.

As R. said to me afterwards: 'I only lie to the people that I like.' That is, when people are friendly, the last thing you want to do is make them suspicious of you and hostile by telling them you live in Ramallah, which to most Israelis is a city of terrorists.


Second Scenario: Loving a Kibbutz

Three of my friends went for a weekend to a Kibbutz near the borders of Gaza. They had met some young Israelis who were undergoing their military service in the Negev Desert during a visit there and had been invited. They loved it - the peace and tranquility and the welcoming people. When they returned to Ramallah, they told us all about it, how wonderful it was. And they told their Palestinian friends - some of whom have spent time in Israeli prisons (also coincidently in the Negev) and in Israeli interrogation; and some of whom belong to refugee families originally from Israel. My three friends were honest about how the felt about the Kibbutz, but in this situation a bit of restraint would have been better. Several people were upset by what they said, and some where angered.

A Palestinian friend of a friend expressed her position on these situations when she said: 'I don't care if you go to Israel - go to Tel Aviv! You should see both sides. Just don't come back here and tell me how much you liked it, because I don't want to hear it.'


Third Scenario: Access Denied

Last week, a fellow PAS student, R., had to go to Jordan to meet a friend and also renew his Israeli visa, which was running out. He flew back to Tel Aviv Airport from Amman. He was stopped for questioning. He told the truth: that he was an international student at Birzeit. He was put on the next flight back to Amman. He tried to enter by land, through Allenby Bridge, but he was turned around. His embassy couldn't help him (he's American). His Congressman couldn't help him. His lawyer couldn't help him. This is a person who never went to any of the demonstrations while in the West Bank. He is, however, half Palestinian, with family in Jerusalem. Why has he been denied entry? Security? He's nineteen.

Everyone who has lied effectively at the borders has been let in with no problems. Moral of the story?