Female fighters filling the ranks of Israeli Border Police troops

a site that you will see on almost every corner of the old city of Jerusalem, heavily armed

police

officers. These are the first to respond to any terrorist attack in the holy city. Perhaps the most surprising thing is that they are women who make up about 30 of these almost 9,000 people. troop and today we are going to meet one of those officers who is about the same size as me, but with one big difference: she is expertly trained at an elite level and will give us an idea of ​​the daily duties of a guard of the Jerusalem

border

police

at this time.

She is Shoshana at the age of 19. She left her home in Florida to enlist in the Israeli army brandishing an M16 rifle and equipped with heavy armor. Shoshana's duties are the same as those of her male counterparts who are often seen at work. There is a difference with men and women, but here I feel the same, like I really feel like an equal and it's interesting that they treat me the same and that they have the same responsibilities and the same jobs and, honestly, it's also great, it's a job full of dangers By protecting three of the world's most sacred sites in such a sensitive area amidst a tense political backdrop the Jerusalem district is inundated with terrorist attacks but you are not only there to thwart potential terrorist attacks but sometimes you are often the goal how does that make you feel that definitely could Sometimes I can be scary but I have confidence in myself and I like what I've been through with training and everything so I think I can handle any situation.

If I'm in it, we make our way through east Jerusalem, an area at the center of political discourse as Palestinian leadership seeks this as the capital of a future Palestinian state is here Shoshanna tells me why she left her home in America to become in police officer in israel i love this country you know when you love something you don't Don't just say you love it, you also have to do something for it. When I heard about the Magov

border

police, I found it very interesting to work. We are not at the borders waiting for war to happen, but we are really inside and we are really doing things every day: we enter a neighborhood called atur where the border police patrol daily looking for potential suspects trying to get to the old city or, as he explains Shashana, disperse riots if you get it with a block, I guess you just keep going. you run and try to catch the person, plus every situation is different, you know, rocks, you just keep running while he's at cocktails, you keep running, you try to catch the person who did it because clearly it's not something that's allowed to happen, so normally that would happen. reason for arrest, but today they will take us to a guard post located on top of a police station that gives them a panoramic view of the entire 125 square mile expanse of the ancient city and its surroundings, so this is a Pretty good point of view, talk to me.

The importance of this area, so this is definitely a viewpoint over almost all of Jerusalem, can be seen from this position. Communication is vital to share information about suspicious activities around sacred sites. With boots on the ground, we have our combat soldiers, men and women. police officers practically scattered throughout Jerusalem protecting this city from above. Shoshana shares with me her experiences patrolling an Arab village called rasalamud within which there is a Jewish neighborhood. Many times you have riders who come and throw, whether it's Molotov cocktails. or stones or whatever, there are a lot of people who try to throw things into the Jewish neighborhood to endanger their lives or their homes.

Shashana opens up about the real challenges of being a border guard if I have to make an arrest, I don't. It's always easy, you know, a lot of times the person is bigger than me or even stronger than me and he's trying to escape, so yeah, it definitely happened. Return to base. Shoshanah opens up even more. Obviously I think maybe like men. built stronger and that's okay and it's another way that women like us have to push ourselves, you have to be a particular kind of brave, although to really be on the front lines you are the first to respond to terrorist attacks, how do you it does? mentally prepare yourself for something like this, I don't know if you can ever be fully prepared for something like this, you are put in this situation and you just have to act however you think is appropriate to act in a city that houses the safety of some of the most sacred sites in the world.

The world has many faces, even if they are not here at the moment. You can also find border police guards guarding the entrance of the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque, but as you can see at this moment, they also have another specific job which is to ensure that non-Muslims do not enter the holy place outside of specific hours. assigned and even in alleys that seem to be empty. Magov is aided by technology and support is never far away tracy alexander iltv jerusalem