2 Seconds - 20 KPH

By Paula R. Stern
October 2006

Two seconds at 20 kilometers per hour. That's the time and speed it takes to pass a checkpoint; the amount of time afforded to a soldier to look into the car, into the driver's eyes, to scan the car and its passengers and identify the threat. Two seconds and if he is wrong, dozens could die.

In that split second, he has the option of letting the car pass through or delaying it. Giving himself a few extra seconds, but at a cost. Thousands pass the checkpoint each day on their way to work, to meet friends, to go to medical appointments. Delay each car by a few seconds and in the end, the ripple effect jams the checkpoint.

There is no time to waste. Look at the person. Jew or Arab. This is ethnic profiling. There is no other way. No Jew has ever climbed on a city bus and exploded himself and all those around him. Man or woman - a woman is a less likely suicide bomber, though even that isn't a guarantee. Old or young - the young have yet to learn what they are sacrificing; they are more pliable and more likely to be fooled into believing they are headed for glory and erotic pleasures in heaven.

Does the driver look nervous? Are there passengers? Is the car new? Does it have some stickers or something that will tell this young soldier in the two seconds he has that the passengers are friend or foe? No time - a quick decision.

On August 9, 2001, two young Palestinians crossed a checkpoint. The soldier on duty that day had two seconds to decide. What he saw was a young couple, nicely dressed. The man carried a guitar case. In the two seconds he had, it didn't register that there might be danger, that this handsome young couple intended to destroy lives.

A short while later, the Sbaro Pizzeria in the heart of Jerusalem was destroyed, and with it, dozens of lives changed forever.