The social architecture of checkpoints: the case of Palestine

Borders constitute a timely topic all over the world. While globalization has generally fostered movement, we see that the freedom of movement has recently been impeded and excludes certain parts of the population. Thus, they constitute a sphere of discrimination. In a recent survey conducted, borders were named as the number one location where the Palestinian population experiences discrimination. Given the importance of the topic, this project proposes to study borders from a different angle by employing state-of-the-art mixed methods. Google reviews of checkpoints across the West Bank are analysed in a quantitative and qualitative fashion. The newly created dataset contains the name of the author (Arabic, Jewish, other), the comment, the number of stars, how many people like the comment, the time point and any pictures that have been uploaded. Preliminary analyses focus on one the main checkpoints – Qalandia, which is located outside of Ramallah. Currently, 69 reviews have been completed, whereas other checkpoints, for instance, Hizma counts 581 reviews, which we will include at later stages. First analyses show that most reviews are written by users with names of Arabic origin (67%), 15% by people with names of Jewish origin, and remaining names could not be classified or were international. People with Jewish names rate the checkpoint with significantly more stars than people with Arabic or other names. A qualitative analysis shows that safety is the main aspect addressed in those comments (e.g., "Border Protection keeps everybody SAFE"). However, some users with names of Jewish origin also give low ratings to the checkpoints. One user calls it a "terrible place", whereas another addresses practical issues. Users with Arabic names would typically use words such as "Apartheid", "occupation" but also mention inhumane conditions and crowdedness. Again, there are unexpected findings by name with one quarter of users with names of Arabic origin giving the full number of stars. On average, the number of stars has increased over time. More frequent reviewers give higher ratings as well.