So to quickly set the scene... I've been tagging along (freeloading) with the Riwaq crew on their various excursions around the West Bank to see art and architecture and the unavoidable backdrop to it all. This backdrop is where the story gets good today. So this evening's itinerary consisted of an exhibition of On Kawara at the Dar Al Kalima kindergarten (very weird indeed... conceptural art hung neatly above a blackboard and macaroni-art in a room filled with teeny tiny chairs) a "tour" of Bethlehem's Old City (didn't quite happen, but we did walk though it) and a reception at Dar Annadwa where we met the Director and a Lutheran minister named Mitri Raheb who was so inspiring that he almost convinced me to switch to the other side.
On the way back, I sat with a group of students from the brand new International Art Academy of Palestine that just opened up in Ramallah. I tried to get them to teach me the lyrics to Wen A Ramallah and got Reema's cheeks hurting with my knowledge of street Arabic as I called her habibti and her friend/colleage Mamoun zalamti.
Fun was in the air as we approached the Container checkpoint (also known as Wadi Nar) but sure enough this one soldier had to ruin it all for us. He stood outside the bus shouting the same three questions at the driver (in Hebrew) while the driver answered them (wrongly.. on purpose or not I don't really know) mixing Hebrew and Arabic. Bad vibes all around as this little guy kept yelling at our elder driver who I think was tired of hauling us around.. it was after 11pm at this point. Meanwhile, one Brit makes his way to the front of the bus, holding his passport like a shield across his chest, and the next thing I knew he was in front of the bus pissing two feet away from three soldiers in the middle of the checkpoint. Yes.. you heard me... this guy just started pissing in the middle of the checkpoint. I was in the front seat of the bus so I got a better view than most if you catch my drift. The students whom I was sitting with on the bus were speechless, the soliders were stunned, and I was like... hu majnun! Both the little soldier and the tired driver were now able to direct their annoyances/aggressions elsewhere and so the relieved Brit was detained and the bus was told to keep going. Commotion ensued... do we leave the Brit at the mercy of the checkpoint and its masters or wait... ok..we wait (I think only the driver wanted to leave him, as bus drivers all over the world tend to want to do). I picked up a mix of frustration and disbelief all around... more waiting (frustration) .. checkpoint as hamam? (disbelief). To complicate matters, our driver had all the Palestinian hawwiyyes from the guys on the second bus which was in front of us. And anyone who knows Palestinians know that they don't budge without their IDs so the driver of the bus in front is now out asking what's up.... To sum it up, the Brit was released after about 10 minutes and by this time, word got around and he was greeted back on to the bus as a local celebrity. Cheers all over! Who would have guessed that public urination could be so welcomed by artists, academics, intellectuals and boys and girls of all ages? Turns out, his move was not intended to be read as a form of political expression at all, hence the title of today's post.
Container / Wadi Nar
And now for your listening pleasure the song that got us through the night.
Glossary
zalamti - my man
habibti-my beloved/my honey/my baby
hu majnun - he is crazy
hamam - bathroom
hawwiye - ID card
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