MUHAMMED HUSSEIN was unable to convince Israeli soldiers stationed at the military checkpoint east of Qalqilya City to let him cross and deliver his load of vegetables on the other side. At least, not until he submitted to their demand that he pay a bribe in return for crossing.

"There is no way I could have crossed the checkpoint other than by agreeing to give the soldiers a cell phone," said Hussein angrily. He had waited for hours inside his truck for permission to cross, to no avail.

The residents of Qalqilya, and particularly truck drivers, suffer daily from arbitrary measures enforced by Israeli soldiers. The soldiers prevent residents from crossing the checkpoint and transporting merchandise without handing over a bribe. Adding insult to injury, the soldiers call these bribes "presents" in attempt to disguise the true nature of the disgraceful and immoral act.

Another truck driver, who preferred to remain anonymous, said that the soldiers stipulated he bring them a large can of olive oil in order to cross the checkpoint every day. "What can we do?" he asked. "We cannot transport our products except through this checkpoint, and this is exactly where soldiers from the world's 'strongest' and most corrupt army are stationed."

The occupying Israeli army placed a tight military siege on Qalqilya city two years ago, and restricts residents' movement to the city's eastern entrance. The Israeli forces also prevent trucks from driving on the main roads. Truck drivers must therefore unload their goods on one side of the checkpoint and then other trucks with Israeli license plates transport their goods to markets outside the city.

Isra' Muhammad, a resident of Qalqilya, said that Israeli soldiers held her up at the checkpoint for two hours. She was returning home after a visit to Jordan, and the soldiers finally let her cross after she surrendered several packs of cigarettes she had brought for one of her brothers, she said.

Qalqilya mayor Ma'ruf Zahran has received numerous complaints about Israeli soldiers blackmailing local residents and requesting bribes in return for allowing them to cross the checkpoint. He has submitted a number of grievances to international human rights organizations, requesting that they intervene to stop these actions.

A number of residents who have been forced to pay bribes do not want to file cases because they are afraid of the Israeli soldiers.

Zahran is worried about Qalqilya residents' increased suffering from the effects of the Israeli siege. "The Israeli forces are aiming to tighten the siege on the city and escalate attacks on civilian institutions to force the residents of Qalqilya, which lies only three kilometers from the Green Line, to migrate," says Zahran.

The Israeli siege has decreased the city's gross income by 90 percent, reports Zahran. Qalqilya's streets are always half empty, a sore reminder of the city's economic recession on the city. The economic situation has had a negative effect on residents' abilities to procure even the basic necessities of life.