The scene each day at the Bethlehem checkpoint is horrifying. Lucky Palestinians who have managed to obtain authorization to work in Israel — the “ticket to life,” they call it — undergo an exhausting, agonizing wait that can last five hours, even when they arrive early in the morning to beat the crowds.

This is the journey thousands must make to reach jobs that help them survive the economic distress in areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority. 

The inhumane overcrowding to get through the “lines” at the checkpoint forces many workers to climb the fences just to avoid suffocation. Some workers, many in their 40s and 50s who don’t have it in them to withstand the long hours of crowding, try to arrive at 2 a.m. to avoid the misery that will increase as more laborers arrive.

“The fight for a piece of railing is the hardest of all,” said Ahmed Darajah, a 42-year-old father of eight from Beit Sahour who works in a quarry. “Only the strong can climb the railing and hold tight to the barbwire fence for hours. Not everyone has the strength to keep hanging in the air all night, and only the strong survive [and keep their place in line]. The rest pray to God.”