Thus Mitchell, and other international diplomats, do not see the chaos and abuses of Qalandiya or other checkpoints. It is set up to hide that reality from them.

That is why George Bush (upon his first, last and only visit to Ramallah) could make the disgusting joke, based on his actual observation of the Beit El DCO, that the checkpoint “wasn’t that bad”. For the international VIPs (and some Palestinians VIPs) it really isn’t “that bad”. But for the majority it is. In fact, most Palestinian residents of the West Bank cannot access Qalandiya checkpoint at all unless they have special permits issued by the Israeli military.

The observation of chaos (let’s not conflate that with anarchy, please!) at Qalandiya is on the money, as is the observation that the Israeli Border Police (a branch of the Israeli military) that are stationed there, could really care less about the gridlock. But peel back more layers of the onion and find the reality is much more stark.

It’s a basic problem of apartheid. There is one system for Israelis and their international visitors (complete with new roads and the rule of law) and another for the Palestinians (where gridlock festers and military rule is imposed). It is always harder to see the reality when you benefit from it, isn’t it?