Was the truck driver being paid for his time, while his load of sand was being examined? Was it his sand, or somebody else's? Does dumping sand on the ground damage it and cause it to be worth less? Does anyone at LL buy their sand elsewhere if it's late arriving because of a spot inspection?

My guess is that the Palestinians who had their produce dumped and searched were the owners, if not also the growers, of the produce. The dumping damaged the merchandise, guaranteed. The delay for searches caused delay in getting the goods to market, which means that the chances of making sales were greatly reduced by the searches, since many shoppers would have already made their purchases, and no one is likely to purchase the fraction of the goods that were damaged. They were not paid for their time, and they suffered additional financial loss due to the above two factors, as well as humiliation.

If armed men caused you to miss submitting a bid on a job so they could do a spot inspection of your car, I think you might not consider it fine and dandy. If they stopped and searched you because you are a Mormon, would that make you mad? If they did it to Mormons, and only Mormons, every week, because there were some nuts who are Mormon (whom, incidentally, you may not even know), would you begin to believe that you were being singled out and persecuted for political reasons having to do with your religion? Would that inspire more cooperation on your part or less? Would you take them to court? If you didn't have that option (do the Palestinians?), would you resist?

It's very easy to accuse others of whining when one hasn't had to face the assumption of guilt until one proves one's innocence. It's very easy to assume that it's no big deal when one's frame of reference is incomplete or inappropriate.

Regards--
Mary Anne