Palestinian Checkpoint Socks: For Those Long Waits

by Jordan Yerman | March 19, 2007 at 09:43 pm

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One gets a feeling that this story will be all over the Internet rather shortly, so here it is. The story isn't so much the invention itself as the circumstances that spawned it: when the extreme becomes the banal.

A West Bank woman has developed special socks to help Palestinians suffering from swollen feet as they wait at Israeli military checkpoints.

Maram Abdel Latif, from Jenin, spent three years on the design and produced her first prototype in February.

The socks are made from nylon and gel that moulds around wearers' feet to prevent discomfort, even if they stand for hours, as they sometimes have to.

Ms Latif, 22, says the socks are ideal for pregnant women and the elderly.