Salfit, The West Bank. September, 2000. “Machsom”, the Hebrew word for “Checkpoint”, tells the story of YANIV GREENBLATT, a barely 19 Israeli soldier stationed at one of the most dangerous such checkpoints along the West Bank. Yaniv has just one more year to finish his mandatory service in the Israel Defense Forces. He would like to be a pacificst and struggles to be fairto the Palestinians, but has to contend with the prying eyes of Sgt. David Melamed, and his other superiors. The problems Yaniv faces at home are no easier. His mother is a wheelchair bound hard=right-winger due to her own injury and loss of her husband in a terrorist attack. Avi, Yaniv’s younger brother, seems to be drifted in the same direction. The story centers on the day Yaniv goes to pick up his brother at school but funds Avi and several other kids bullying Mohammed, an Arab Israeli boy who lives with his Palestinian father across the green line. Mohammed’s father, Khalil cannot cross the checkpoint due to a curfew that has been imposed that day. Unable to help Mohammed get home that evening, Yaniv decides to take Mohammed to his own home. Yaniv and Mohammed must contend with both Avi and Amalia, neither of whom want Mohammed to be there, both unhappy with yaniv. Yaniv manages to speak up against his mom’s prejusices and Mohammed and Avi find common ground. Later at the checkpoint, tension rises as discontented Palestinians attempt to jump the fence. Chaos ensues, a smoke bomb is thrown, the crowd disperses but Khalil yells for his son, Mohammed. Overwhelmed, Yaniv in the spur of the moment mistakenly fires his rifle, shooting Khalil in the leg. In the aftermath, Yaniv and David get into a fight as Yaniv externalizes his anger towards his peers and the situation in general, leaving all involved to reconsider their previous resolve.