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Friday, May 05, 2006
Palestinian Cab Drivers
Palestinian cab drivers are amazing. They go through hell to earn a living. Without them, life will pretty much stop. They are creative at finding alternative routes to avoid the checkpoints and to get people where they need to go: university, market, hospital. I always liked how they expressed solidarity with each other by flashing their headlights to oncoming cabs to warn them of a flying checkpoint awaiting to ambush them ahead. For three years, I used these cabs to commute daily between Ramallah and Nabuls. It is very likely that I was driven by Zakariya Daraghmeh, 37, who, yesterday, was shot on a checkpoint while trying to pick up some passengers to feed his children.
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I was a member of Hackney Palestine Solidarity Campaign's delegation to Palestine in November 2005. Four activists from our group in London came to the northern part of the West Bank to see how the apartheid wall is impacting on the Palestinians. We were driven around by Zakariya for about 5 days, he was a lovely man - pleasant and helpful and calm. We travelled in Zakariya's big yellow taxi to Tubas, Nablus, Jenin as well as the Jordan Valley where we witnessed how the occupation is blockading the Palestinians and forcing them into a series of ghettos - made by the checkpoints and very roadblocks like the one at which Zakariya was murdered. Our guide told us that the impromptu roadblock near Tubas - for which there could have been no possible 'security' explanation, was like a text message from the Israelis to the Palestinians: 'we can control you'.
I found out about Zakariyya's death last week and was deeply shocked. He leaves behind a wife and five children.
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