Palestinian boys in East Jerusalem during an evening ball game. I found very quickly the younger generation of Palestinians to be very approachable.
	In the same quarters Palestinian family-owned shops and stands are open late at night, since every last cheap item sold can make a difference for these people...
	...while the youngest kids are playing or waiting.
	In East Jerusalem, a traditionally Palestinian and Muslim neighborhood, one quickly notices evidence of the (mostly) quiet war that is going on here, with parts of streets or individual buildings suddenly being heavily guarded, CCTV-controlled and with Israeli flags posted on top.
	The entrances leading to the Western Wall are of course also well protected by security police and military, including layers of X-ray scanning and metal detectors for visitors.
	The Western Wall, where men in black congregate and bow back and forth toward the stones.
	A Jewish night school not far away, where younger men in black congregate and bow back and forth over books.
	The illuminated golden dome of the Al-Aqsa Mosque just nearby.
	Via Dolorosa - the Way of Suffering - the uphill path (a narrow cobblestone alley in the old quarters of Jerusalem) where according to Christian legend Jesus carried the cross to Golgotha. Within just a short walk I had thus this first evening in Jerusalem seen different sacred places of three world religions - Islam, Judaism and Christianity - essentially located in the very same place right next to each other. RT 2009 had begun, and would explore the realities of this unavoidable coexistence.
	I reached the bustling and crowded city of Ramallah in Palestine by bus early on Wednesday morning, where I would pick up the rental car. I wanted a car with Palestinian license plates (white) instead of Israeli plates (yellow), since my area of movement would be the West Bank which I wanted to discover from a native's perspective, i e including any roadblocks or barricades or other obstructions for Palestinian cars that might have existed at the time. This would be hardcore. No cheating.
	Market activity in Ramallah...
	...and a man reading the morning newspaper by the famous Al-Manarah Square.
	I set off north through this Biblical and dry landscape toward Nablus. There were a couple of Israeli checkpoints on the way with a few drive-through lanes for Israeli cars and one very slow lane for Palestinian cars, which were all screened and some were searched more thoroughly. I was however let through quite smoothly in the Palestinian lane, perhaps due to my western physical appearance. Nablus neighborhoods stretch out over the surrounding hills under the hot sun.
	The downtown area was also quite active and fairly crowded...
	...and on the surface gave a harmless impression. Nablus is a university town and therefore attracts a lot of younger people.
	The financial infrastructure in the West Bank is upheld via several branch offices of for example the Bank of Palestine and Palestine Islamic Bank. However during periods limited international banking activities, such as cross-border trade and transactions, have been allowed to take place since the occupiers have decided that such basic bank activities could be synonymous with financing of terrorism.
	On top of almost every building in the West Bank are a bunch of water cisterns and a few satellite tv discs. Both are essential in different ways - water, information and entertainment from the outside world.
	But sometimes the water available for the Palestinians for drinking, cooking and personal hygiene is simply not enough anyway, since key water supplies and resources such as for example the Jordan river basin have been stolen from them. When the wells and the pipes run dry, water trucks offer temporary relief.
	Here and there in the world one comes across places where the local garbage collection system and any environmental awareness seem to have broken down altogether. Ulan Ude in Siberia (RT 2007) was one such place. Nablus in Palestine is another. By this parking lot were droves of trash. Don't know the reason, but nobody seemed to notice or care except me.
	Boy helping out with fresh bread at the family bakery in Nablus.
	Palestinian police were ever-present in the center of every town on the West Bank, having obtained a mandate from the occupiers to make sure all was kept in order. (Notice the light blue car in the middle of this photo, a Palestinian police car, one of many seen on the inner streets.) They were actually doing a good job and took their task seriously. Things were calm and I never felt any worry or concern walking around in any Palestinian town, day or night.
	There was some presence by the UN as well, although after Africa (RT 2005) it is impossible not to have cynic reservations about both the hands-on ability and competence of UN to do much good. In the case of Palestine one gets the same feeling, that to a great extent the UN mission is just there for show, and that many staff just symbolic and wing-clipped puppets allowed in at the sheer mercy of Israel and USA.
	It is in the backstreets of Nablus that things start to get interesting. Nablus, in the mid-north of the West Bank, is sometimes seen as a hotbed for new recruits to suicide assignments or acts of terror. In the back alleys where unemployment and poverty are more apparent...
	...and where disillusion fills the air, posters of young men with machine guns are prevalent.
	Even toy stores had a selection of plastic toy guns for little kids, which is something I personally think is inappropriate upbringing, anywhere in the world. Toy Kalashnikovs or popular online computer games like "World of Warcraft" and "Call of Duty" distort the realities of war and are equally inappropriate and pathetic, whether the naïve consumer of such war-romanticizing bullshit happens to be located in Nablus, London, Chicago or anywhere else.
	Whether employed or unemployed, and whether old or young, the Palestinian pride is strong. It is absolutely clear that an occupying force playing an unfair game - anywhere in the world - might well destroy material things and kill a few people in the process now and then, or even take a whole nation as hostage for decades with a faraway superpower's tacit approval, but it can never break the natives' spirit.
	Nablus by night. It would have been a quite pleasant evening had it not been for the incessant traffic of low-flying Israeli fighter jets just above. I almost thought a battle was imminent, that something had happened, such as a disproportional retribution after a suicide bomb at a Tel Aviv bus stop or similar. I asked a couple of people about the roaring jets above that one could hear but not see. "Oh no, sure it's the Israelis but they're just training, they're having fun in their American planes. It happens often, we're used to it."
	A crowd of guys selling CD records with local and some foreign music.
	Town square fountain... Once upon a time it was probably beautiful. Now just dry and flaking. Who took the water?
	Continuing toward the northern West Bank town of Jenin the following morning.
	Jenin became known to the world in April 2002, when the Israeli Defense Forces basically leveled part of the Palestinian refugee camp in Jenin, arguing that it was a source for terror attacks on Israel. Caterpillar, an American company, has supplied Israel with special-built armored bulldozers for many years, which proved to be absolutely excellent for the job of demolishing the homes, shops, schools and hospitals in this poor town, dig up the streets and finally cover everything in dust, while international journalists and photographers were prevented by Israeli military to come near the scene. A German artist in cooperation with local youth created this horse from sheet steel from a crushed Palestinian ambulance and other rubble from the Jenin battle, and it now stands by the entranceway to the old Jenin refugee camp as a symbol of resilience.
	A few smaller pieces of land still lie destroyed and vacant...
	...but for the most part many of the multi-storey houses have been rebuilt, mainly by money from UAE, Kuwait and other Arab states.
	Most of the buildings that were not demolished by Israeli tanks, have bullet holes sprayed across walls...
	...as a permanent reminder.
	This young man was a boy when it happened, but survived. Sitting on his mother's porch which is still covered with holes from the occupiers' machine gun bullets.
	Sentiment about past events and the present situation is still strong, and the writing is on the wall.
	Like in Nablus, posters of martyrs are common.
	There is however a new young generation of Palestinians that might not be able to recall the Jenin episode in 2003 themselves, many weren't even born then. The children stepping off this school bus were full of joy and energy...
	...as were these three friends, happily posing for the camera. In fact, it was actually they who insisted I should take a picture of them in the first place, so I did. However as said before, the memory of previous rebels against the occupying force is kept alive with lines of posters and comments on the wall in the background - both literally (in this photo) and figuratively.
	Another crowd of young smiling locals in the rebuilt Jenin refugee camp.
	The manager of the Jenin Creative Cultural Center, Yousef Awad, which aims to bring hope to young children of Jenin by arranging puppet shows, dance and paint projects, and story-telling workshops.
	Donations made it possible to build this theater in Jenin, with the idea that life and dreams of a better world beyond the years of occupation would help alleviate some of the trauma and constant psychological pressures that otherwise would tear down many people inside.
	A river with water, lush green fields, wind energy and a free cottage under a blue sky. A dream about a different Palestine. Telling graffiti.
	From Jenin time to head southeast. It was a little trickier than one might expect, since the Israelis decide at their own discretion how and when Palestinian cars can travel around in Palestine. I was forced to turn around near the Jordan river at one military checkpoint staffed by heavily armed IDF teenagers, so I chose a semi-abandoned country road instead, when I came across this discarded former Israeli checkpoint. Moving around the checkpoints now and then presumably adds to the self-amusement of the occupiers, but for the natives it must be rather frustrating.
	Some foreign aid is reaching the Palestinian villages in the West Bank, for example from US and EU as these signs attest. The second billboard pictured left reads: "Emergency assistance to marginal communities affected by the drought in Jericho, Tubas, Nablus and the central part of Jordan valley" Well, to be realistic, this aid is just a drop in the ocean, or rather, a drop in the desert. Perhaps it would be better if the political elite of US and EU with a little more courage and integrity instead dared to step up and address the root causes of this grossly asymmetrical control over water resources between the natives and the occupiers in Palestine.
	Closer to the river Jordan valley were big irrigated fields and lush gardens. So there are indeed water resources available after all. However, some of these communities in eastern Palestine were walled-in, and the people living inside were not Palestinians.
	Most major roads in the West Bank are signposted in both Hebrew, Arabic and English. Not all roads are open for all cars however, as had already been discovered and resulted in a turnaround and detour, but I never bothered to find out which ones beforehand. I had a Palestinian car in Palestine and therefore simply didn't care until someone would stop me. Just like US presidents often reiterate, I also like freedom. Such as freedom of movement.
	More Biblical scenery along the western shoreline of the Dead Sea.
	It was in another cave in this area that the famous Dead Sea Scrolls were found by a Bedouin shepherd in 1946-47. They are considered to be a discovery of huge historic and religious significance, and are currently kept by the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.
	The Dead Sea, with Jordan on the other side.
	The Kalia Beach resort boasts to have the lowest bar in the world, 418 meters below sea level. Interestingly enough they fly the Israeli flag here right in the heart of Palestine...
	...and sell army green IDF t-shirts in the souvenir shop.
	Aside from the kibbutz communities there are some lone residential developments along the shore as well, encircled with barricades and barbed wire. "Because God told me to settle here."
	I decided to spend the night in the ancient and legendary market town of Jericho, a place where man has lived for 11,000 years. But strangely enough, by the time of RT 2009 there were only three entranceways left to the former legendary trade crossroads of Jericho. The first one I tried - pictured left - was blocked by concrete barriers and more barbed wire, and further ahead Israeli bulldozers had dug up the entire road altogether. Bravo, applause. At the second entranceway both I and another Palestinian car were declined permission to pass through into town by heavily armed IDF teens. Bravo guys, cute. At the third entranceway, an even bigger Israeli military checkpoint, I got in, of course filled with gratitude toward the generous occupiers.
	Man selling dried fruits and nuts in central Jericho, like others have done hundreds of generations before him.
	Another guy preparing food to sell by the town square in the evening.
	Starving hungry after a long day and a couple of hours' walk around town, I asked them to make me the best dish their unpretentious diner establishment could offer. It was excellent.
	Reflection by the hotel pool in Jericho. (The reason why I occasionally stay at upmarket hotels in very poor regions out in the world is simply for the protection of the rental car.) Like in Africa during RT 2005, the impressions along the way bring both a sense of anger and a sense of hope, yet I was struggling to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict like the usual negotiating governments see the issue. To me, it was now obvious that a two-state solution would be practically impossible. The illegal settlements and the land grab and the (implied) ownership and control over all resources including water, had already gone too far. A lasting two-state solution would require Israel to pull back unconditionally to the 1967 borders, which now would never happen. So the only peaceful and morally defendable alternative left is a one-state solution with Jews and Arabs, with full and equal political and citizen rights and no discrimination on any criteria.
	Westbound on highway 1 toward Jerusalem.
	New developments east of East Jerusalem. "Because God told us to settle here."
	In the Palestinian town of Ubeidyia south-east of Jerusalem I stopped to take some pictures, and met an older gentleman who had a break from his work as a tour guide for visitors. He could see both the concrete wall, Jerusalem and the golden Al-Aqsa dome from the hilltops in his village.
	Jamal kindly invited me to his home for tea. He spoke excitedly about all people who had passed through his village during the years, many foreign tourists en route to Bethlehem like me, but got somber when talking about his own lifelong dream to go to Jerusalem, his nation's capital. "They would never allow me to visit that mosque," he said, holding back tears. A prisoner on the wrong side of the concrete blocks and watchtowers.
	Landing in Hebron in the south-western part of the West Bank after just a brief lunchtime stop in Bethlehem. Hebron is in some ways the nucleus of the greater conflict. Here the war is visible, unmissable to even to most naïve observer.
	UN is present in a tiny, tiny corner of Hebron and the previous comments about UN's effort and actual mandate in Palestine can well be repeated. UN here makes no real difference whatsoever toward solving the conflict. UN's hands are tied. The UN representatives in Palestine including Hebron are only symbolic puppets with close to nil influence and real power to change or steer the order of the day. For senior Israeli government officials who in reality are the ones calling the shots, UN is at best a little marginal nuisance, at worst nothing at all. Either the UN security council should make a serious effort here and put tens of thousands of UN soldiers on the ground to keep Israelis and Palestinians apart, or otherwise the security council permanent members should think of better ways to solve the conflict. Such as proclaiming a one-state solution with equal rights for everyone, instead of clinging on to the "two-state solution" impossibility.
	To take a break from the quiet war, I decided to visit one of Hebron's glass factories where traditional methods are still in use.
	Ceramic items like cups and vases are made here too.
	The shelves were filled with handicraft, perhaps some nice stuff here and there but unfortunately the quality did not quite reach the level of for example the Småland glass factories in southern Sweden.
	Picture from inside the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron, built on the site which is said to be the final resting place of the patriarchs and matriarchs, namely the three Biblical couples Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, and Jacob and Leah. Adam and Eve are also said to be here, according to Jewish tradition. Lots of celebrities buried in this spot in other words, and who doesn't want to be close to a celebrity? This obsession is partly the source of much tension between Islam and Judaism that each claim rights to this particular microscopically tiny slice of land on the very big Planet Earth.
	All calm on the surface...
	...but wait a minute. Is there something wrong with this picture? A watchtower, surveillance cameras and barbed wire right here in old Hebron?
	Entire streets had been blocked off in the old Muslim quarters of Hebron...
	...and gateways and yards fenced off with even more barbed wire...
	...and shop alleys closed down and the doors welded shut.
	Some welded doors of previous Palestinian shops and the homes of Muslim elders had the Star of David graffiti-painted on them. It is absolutely impossible not to draw parallels to events in Germany in the late 1930s and early 1940s, but now with somewhat altered roles apparently. Memory is short.
	On house facades and elsewhere, these two triangles are the last word, for now.
	Above a Hebron market street not yet shut down by the Jewish settlers with the support of IDF, the native Palestinians have been forced to put up a net to avoid being hit by trash hurled down on them from high windows and rooftops by the surrounding new Jewish settlers on slow days, as a way of self-amusement. One of the little Palestinians boys in inset picture is now almost blind, after a settler had thrown a bucket of toxic dirt water over him as he stepped outside his home front door one day. Obviously this militant settler had missed the chapters in the Torah that discuss respect for others.
	Israeli military watchtower in the completely wrong place in foreign land. No, I'm not afraid or intimidated by you. Just disappointed in how a government can sink so low.
	Huge water cisterns in white and blue, and new buildings (after the previous ones had been torn down) marked with the Star of David. "Because God told us to settle here."
	A quiet war, but a war indeed.
	Most of these IDF soldiers are just kids, many barely 20 years old. The mandatory IDF service is three years for the boys and two years for the girls.
	"There must be some way out of here, said the joker to the thief."
	Some aid projects in Hebron by NGOs and other organizations are probably important for the Palestinian children in the short run, but in the long run rather futile. It is pointless to marginally try to ease or lessen the gigantic symptoms, without first understanding and firmly addressing the root causes.
	So-called "civilian" Jewish settlers in central Hebron are also allowed to bear arms. Here are two chaps strolling on their own private blocked-off street, one with a machine gun over his shoulder. "Because God told us to settle here."
	This is one of the most gripping photos from this roadtrip. Below is a central Hebron backstreet where before there were Palestinian shops and homes, but now it is cut off with tall concrete blocks and barbed wire. Now the Palestinians have all been evicted and forced away. On the other side of the concrete barricades, children of Jewish settlers have created a makeshift playground with a colorful hopscotch and drawings on the former shop door. It may sound naïve but yet the idea is very simple: What's wrong with removing the rubble, reopening the street, reopening the shops, and letting kids from both sides play together?
	Back at the hotel all major news channels were this very evening broadcasting live from a press conference with the Israeli prime minister and the US secretary of state in Tel Aviv. US politicians are always tip-toeing at choreographed events like these, careful not to speak too frankly about the actual issues, careful not to offend AIPAC (the powerful Jewish lobby group in the US), other key politicians and their financial backers at home. A complete media charade in other words, laughable and pitiful. The CNN tag line describing the news story reads: "Mideast peace talks have stalled over Jewish settlements" No shit, Sherlock.
	A quite short and easy northbound drive took RT 2009 to Bethlehem the following morning.
	The rental car parked outside the Bethlehem Star Hotel, said to be popular with international journalists, and that's why I picked this one hoping for a chance to strike a few good conversations in the hotel bar later at night. However no journalists seemed present this day. They were probably all in Tel Aviv.
	The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, built on the place where Jesus was born according to the legend, was really my first direct reconnection with Christianity since Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem on the very first evening. The church entrance is rather modest.
	View from the inside. Aside from being a key Christian site and destination, the church played a role as sanctuary for Palestinians in an armed conflict with Israeli military in April-May 2002, as part of IDF's "Operation Defensive Shield" (under which Jenin was destroyed as well, see above). The church was then put under siege for 39 days and suffered some damages both inside and on the outside.
	In stark contrast to various Jewish and Muslim sites of interest across the Holy Land, Christian locations in Bethlehem and Jerusalem had no security checks, no metal detectors, no heavily armed guards or similar. Equally no dress code. Of the three religions Christianity seemed to be the most chilled, by far. No überserious tension, no high drama, to fundamentalist vibes. Just a bunch of more or less secularized tourists, really, some of whom might even have come to see their religion as nothing more than a gimmick. Here they are, some in t-shirts, shorts, sneakers and baseball hats, crowding patiently to get down to the vault where Jesus was born. The exact spot is marked with a golden star and a little looking glass in the middle to the crypt below.
	Western Europeans were relatively absent, but on the other hand large groups of young people from Eastern Europe including Russia, mainly girls, were among the visitors.
	And here it is. The wall.
	Cutting through towns and villages and orchards, and only partially following the 1967 borders between Israel and Palestine, this people separation and land-and-water grab project had to this day in November 2009 become what the Berlin wall was until November 1989. Only worse.
	Eight meters tall and topped with barbed wire and razor wire, equipped with beam lights, surveillance cameras, sensors, and fitted and armed sniper towers.
	Camouflage nets on this tower…? The young resident IDF recruits inside obviously take their duty very seriously.
	The graffiti and writings on the Palestinian side of the wall voice the world view on the issue. These include political quotes or paraphrases of for example King and Obama... "I have a dream - this is not part of that dream" "Yes we can"
	...and Reagan and Chamberlain... "Mr. Netanyahu, tear down this wall" "Peace in our time"
	...and Nelson Mandela. "Only free men can negotiate"
	Other comments are more outraged and draw parallels between the policies of the German regime in the 1930s and early 1940s, and the strategy and procedures of the Israeli government today. "Israel - have you become the evil you deplored?" "Assassins"
	Some are soft and subtle...
	...while others are straight-talking and uncompromising. "Wake up! This is not peace, this is fascism" "Ghetto pimps"
	Some illustrations and words are rather naïve...
	...while other statements are simply just frustrated, and want to highlight the real issues including control over water resources on the West Bank. "Turn on the water!" "Zionism is bad for Jews"
	Some remarks are more philosophical, trying to put it all in a historical perspective. "Plant justice, harvest peace" "Israel, is this what you want to be remembered by?"
	The US government and also some significant private donors are bankrolling a great part of Israel's "security" and "defense" arsenal and projects. Intelligent and sensible American taxpayers and voters should begin to ask questions soon, one would think. "It's really amazing what $7 million per day from my government can do"
	Some concrete blocks even come with a manufacturing stamp.
	A great portion of the commentary is very humorous, and much of it sarcastic. Here is a large-scale seafood menu and a red "love and kisses" emblem.
	While I was taking some photos I was asked to be interviewed by CBC from Canada (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public radio and television network), who was there with a tv-team filming material for a feature about the twentieth anniversary of fall of the Berlin Wall (9 November 1989). I was asked a few questions about it and actually gave them very diplomatic and harmless answers. However in the final editing my interview was apparently rejected, but they did include a few moments of me taking pictures in the version that was broadcast in North America a few days later.
	There are pacifist annotations as well as visions of what one day will be unavoidable even here, namely that this wall will come down, like all walls do sooner or later. "One day I will put a piece of this wall on the shelf in my living room" "Arms are for hugging"
	And here's my personal favorite. "I want my ball back!"
	"Hello... Is there anybody in there? Just knock if you can hear me. Is there anybody home?" "Okay... It's just a little pin-prick." It would certainly require a fair amount of ideological indoctrination to construct, maintain and morally defend an invention like this.
	Not afraid of this wall. Not intimidated. Just disappointed and saddened on behalf of the people affected. If Israel now really wanted to fence in itself, this concrete monster should of course have been erected on Israel's own land as per the 1967 borders. Not snaking into Palestine. US presidents and other senior government officials, that are backing all this with cash and rhetoric, like to talk about "freedom". It's an ideological American mantra. Well, come over here to Palestine. Come over here to the real ground zero, the root cause of much of the troubles in the entire Middle East and elsewhere, and then let's talk about what the word "freedom" means.
	Lunch break in late afternoon at a Bethlehem cafe, watching the street life below. Ordinary people, ordinary lives. But a very extraordinary situation just a few blocks away. Of course, one can always try to analyze it intellectually and academically and weigh the arguments from both sides. One can describe it diplomatically and sensitively like a seasoned politician. But at the end of the day, taking a step back and looking at it with the eyes and mindset of just a plain human being... that high wall is just... bizarre. Just bizarre.
	Good night, Nativity Church.
	Good morning to another day, Bethlehem and the Holy Land.
	The last driving day of RT 2009, back up to Ramallah. Palestinian cars were redirected to separate narrow side roads and forced to queue for hours ahead of this Israeli checkpoint, which is located deep into Palestine itself.
	The Ma'ale Adumim settlement in Palestine east of East Jerusalem, with lush green trees and bushes and swimming pools inside the gates and walls. "Because God told us to settle here."
	Back in Jerusalem with the street commerce...
	...and Palestinian fruit and vegetable stands.
	The Al-Aqsa Mosque still standing and the Dome of the Rock still shining...
	...with its impressive calligraphies and mosaics, color schemes and symmetries...
	...similar to the mosques in Esfahan during RT 2006.
	And the Western Wall...
	...where the men in black were still bobbing back and forth.
	And the Christian souvenir stands for the secularized and carefree Christian tourists with no dress code, selling everything from icons and wooden crosses and hundreds of different postcards...
	...to rosaries and bracelets, candle holders, miniature statuettes and other trinkets of all sorts...
	...to plastic key rings and even replica crowns of thorns! Well, judging from the shops around these blocks in old Jerusalem, the largest world religion has indeed come full circle and become more of a modern theme park event rather than being a fundamentalist breeding ground (with the exception of a few groupings around the world of course, such as right-wing evangelicals in the US and the Catholic church elite in the Vatican).
	The square outside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, built on the place where Jesus is said to have been crucified and buried. Again security checks were basically nonexistent. Christianity in Jerusalem appears very nonconfrontational, unprovoking, chilled and mature (in stark contrast to the somewhat more hard-boiled religions of Islam and Judaism).
	Inbi Inri. The very place of the cross at the former Golgotha inside the current Church of the Holy Sephulchre, the place where an idealistic young man in his mid-30s was punished for preaching a message of kindness, forgiveness and tolerance, that was too much to bear for the rulers at the time. In 1997 Irish rock group U2 released a song called "Wake up, dead man"; "Jesus, Jesus help me I'm alone in this world And a fucked-up world it is too. Tell me, tell me the story The one about eternity And the way it's all gonna be." Here ends my journey, and here ends RT 2009.
	A week before, it had taken me almost two hours to get into Israel at the Ben Gurion airport outside Tel Aviv. I was the only passenger to be randomly pulled aside just after having stepped off the plane from Stockholm - the selection process was in fact a little bit too "random" in my opinion... Now on the way out I was also interviewed and screened by various Israeli security officials, x-rayed and searched and interrogated over and over again… During all this, all travelers leaving Ben Gurion were given a security risk classification from 1 to 5 in the form of a sticker on the back of the passport, with the few who got the highest mark having separate lanes, checkpoints and procedures.
	I got a 5. According to the State of Israel, I was thus a high security risk. Don't know how they reached that conclusion. Well, don't worry, I wouldn't take up arms, but perhaps my eyewitness accounts weigh much heavier anyway. So perhaps I am a 5 after all. But that top score on the sticker on the back of my passport, coming from Israel, I take as a great compliment of what I stand and strive for. As they say, the first - and biggest - casualty in a war, is the truth.