can have a much more negative impact on the reputation of a womanthan on that of a man.208 Studying under Occupation209 “I live in Jerusalem and I study at Bethlehem University. I have to cross a checkpoint every time I go to classes. In particular on the way back to Jerusalem we get searchedat the checkpoint and my ID number and name are registered. There, we have to wait until they search all the passengers on the bus then allow us to go. This is a waste of our time, not to mention the comments you hear that are very upsetting. Soldiers think they are big shots and hit on us. They would grab someone and take him aside and tell him or her that they didn’t like the way they looked. First, it’s an issue of time. I waste up to three hours every day in transportation even though it should only take half an hour at most to go from our house to Bethlehem. Second, there is the humiliation and oppression we face every day at the checkpoints. A soldier who wants to have some fun can ruin your whole day. It’s also hard for me to see the soldiers humiliating others in front of me when there is nothing I can do about it but watch. It is more than enough to ruin my whole day.” Israeli Harassment of Palestinian Students210 “I was born and raised in the village of al-Mufaqarah, which is seven kilometers away from Yatta, in the South Hebron Hills area. The village is surrounded by four illegal Israeli settlements. There is no infrastructure and no services in the village and the nearest elementary school is in Tuwani, which is two kilometers away; 15-20 minutes walking distance. I attended school until the sixth grade but, unfortunately, after that, my parents obliged me to quit school because the high school was too far away, and it would take one hour walking to reach it. It was not the distance that frightened my parents; rather they were afraid of the Israeli settlers and soldiers who harass or even attack Palestinians. They cared for my education, but they believed it was too dangerous. Therefore they decided that it would be safer for me to stay at home. 208 The World Bank, “Checkpoints and Barriers: Searching for Livelihoods in the West Bank and Gaza – Gender Dimensions of Economic Collapse”, Sustainable Development Department Middle East and North Africa Region, February 2010, page 14. Available at: http://siteresources.worldbank.org/ INTWESTBANKGAZA/Resources/GenderStudy-EnglishFeb2010.pdf 209 BADIL’s interview with Malik Ahmad, Palestinian student from Jerusalem, “Studying under Occupation”, Jerusalem, August 2015 210 BADIL’s interview with Sara Asad, Palestinian student from al-Mufaqarah, Hebron, who felt compelled to leave school do to harassment from Israelis, “Israeli Harassment of Palestinian Students”, Hebron, September 2015 57