In 2004, a West Bank checkpoint installed revolving turnstiles. Technology was used by the Israelis to control passage. Turnstiles would stop with automation and a device recorded even the faintest whisper. In 2012, an Israeli soldier specializing in computer hacking obtained a recording of an entire day’s worth of sounds at this checkpoint. She sent it to her boyfriend, who was a rapper. He sampled the sounds for a protest song, but she worried about getting in trouble, so she destroyed the recording. The rap artist had a duplicate though. After they broke up, he sent it to a Palestinian DJ. McCann includes part of the transcript in Section 249.

Rami recounts his time in the Yom Kippur War (Oct 6, 1973 – Oct 25, 1973), which began when he was 23. He was sent to war in civilian clothes because the army didn’t have enough uniforms, and they barely had enough weaponry. He was placed in a tank unit aimed at fixing broken down tanks. Ironically, the tank he was in broke down. Every part of Rami’s body trembled with fear. That day there was a surprise attack, many Israeli soldiers died. Rami would’ve likely been one of them had their tank not broken down.