Closures and Checkpoints

Closed Military Area bisecting Palestinian farms: After being prevented from entering Qalqilya by the IDF, Jennifer and Daniel tried to find some high ground in one of the neighboring villages with the hope of getting a better look at the wall surrounding the town. Eventually they came to this fence laying at the edge of an olive grove. It was a closed military area as designated by the IDF. There was a series of 4 gates and on either side barbed wire and electric fence stretched for as far as the eye could see. The sign on the gate indicated that it is opened only 3 times a day: from 7-7:20am; from 1-1:20pm; and from 4:40-5:00pm.

Photographs by Jennifer Lemire and Daniel Moss for Grassroots International

At first glance, there is strong justification for closures in the OPT (Occupied Palestinian Territories). The motivation of terrorist groups such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad and their various splinter factions to carry out a massive terrorist act in Israel is great. During the second Intifada that began in October 2000, there were many suicide bomber infiltrations into Israel. They blew themselves up in shopping malls, buses and other public places killing many innocent people. Israel instituted draconic measures to protect its citizens from this form of terrorism. No country in the world would tolerate the sort of terrorist activity against its citizens on a scale to which Israel was subjected. From 2000 until 2005, terrorist acts were committed every few days.

Still today, Israel is subjected to barrages of Qassam rockets from Gaza into Sderot and even as far afield as Ashkelon.

Closures and checkpoints were instituted and the security wall was built in order to prevent terrorist attacks against Israeli citizens. Since these measures were implemented, suicide attacks and other terrorist activities against Israelis within the green line have dropped drastically. Despite the frustrations and suffering of both Palestinians and Israelis, nothing can justify the use of terror against innocent people on both sides.

The motivation of Palestinian extremist terrorist groups to carry out a deadly terrorist act remains high. In return, targeted assassination of terrorist leaders only increases hate and motivation to carry out more terrorist attacks. It is a matter of time before a terrorist act will occur. The situation in Gaza has become unbearable for its citizens. The overcrowded conditions, poverty and frustration will only serve the interests of terrorists and their allies. While Qassam rockets are exploding in Sderot causing injury to people as well as damage to property, there is no way that Israel will ease the situation for the Gazan population. Economic sanctions, cutting off electricity as well as limiting fuel supplies will continue. All actions that Israel carries out against Gaza will only strengthen Hamas’s resolve to carry out more terrorist acts. Hamas is a cancer in Palestinian society! Hamas can only survive on the backs of suffering Palestinians. A prosperous and satisfied Palestinian nation (as remote as this possibility is today) is fatal to Hamas. Hamas can only survive on the Palestinian tragedy and it has no intention of acting responsibly towards its people. It has no plan for leading the Palestinians to an independent state apart from unrealistic rhetoric of replacing Israel through violence and bloodshed.

The conundrum is where to draw the line. On the one hand it is imperative that there be total cessation of Qassam rocket fire while on the other hand, the innocent Palestinians in Gaza not be punished collectively. Israel, despite its messy unilateral disengagement from Gaza in August 2005, is still responsible for the well-being of Gaza’s citizens since they are inextricably dependent on Israel economically. The blame for the situation, contrary to what many people may think, must be laid on Hamas’s doorstep. Hamas’s uncompromising attitude omits opposition to any form of negotiation as well as rhetoric in support of terror has created a hopeless situation in Gaza.

Simultaneously, the situation in the West Bank is also tenuous. Innocent Palestinians are subjected to harassment through closures and checkpoints. Palestinians who are employed in jobs within the territories are subjected to humiliating treatment by the Israeli Army. They are often abused and treated with contempt. They also have to wait for many hours before being allowed to enter their villages. In Tulkarem there was total closure. People under the age of 35 years were not allowed to enter or leave Tulkarem. A Palestinian employee, who works in Azzoun (a town not far from Kalkilya), did not arrive at her place of employment. As it is, she has to pass two checkpoints that make her journey to and from work a five hour nightmare. She was stopped because of the closure of Tulkarem where she lives, on the way back home from work and was not allowed to return home. She was stranded for hours in the pouring rain and cold. Her experience was horrendous and unnecessary!

There was a case of parents, who left their infant with its grandparents in another village. The infant was not allowed to join his parents because of the closure. Another incident is that of a bridegroom who could not marry his bride because he was stuck at the check point on his wedding day. Even more serious are the delays of very sick Palestinians who are in urgent need of medical attention. These restrictions led to the death of 59-year-old Fawzia Abd El-Fattah El-Darak. Her husband tried to bring her to the hospital in the West Bank city of Tulkarem after she began to experience severe chest pain, but the Palestinian Red Crescent Society ambulance in which she was traveling was not allowed through the checkpoint south of Deir Al-Ghusun, northeast of Tulkarem. The woman’s family then attempted to bring her across in a private taxi, informing the Israeli soldiers of her condition, but was again denied entry. The woman later died of a heart attack in her village. No explanation was given by the Israeli authorities.

There are no signs that any of the checkpoints within the territories have been removed despite Israeli statements to that effect. The daily lives of Palestinians are so disrupted that many become despondent and cannot find work. All these disruptions in Palestinian daily lives must be blamed on the Hamas and company terrorist groups. They are the cause! Had they not been so motivated in carrying out terrorist activity against innocent Israelis, Palestinians would be able to get on with their lives. If anything, “ethnic cleansing and genocide” is very much a part of the Hamas lexicon and their adopted godfather Mahmoud Ahmadinajad of Iran!

The occupation is dehumanizing Israeli society. A question that one must ask is:

What is more dehumanizing – the occupation or the senseless killing of innocent people on both sides? Can one be more dehumanized than someone who straps himself or herself with bombs and goes seeking victims? It is difficult to be human when acts perpetrated against Israeli citizens are indiscriminate and inhuman.

“Palestinian life in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) (1) is heavily impacted by Israeli military policies that restrict movement, isolate, and harass the civilian population. This state of "siege" takes the form of closure of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, regular curfews, roadblocks, checkpoints, electric fences, and walls. It is almost impossible to move people or goods within or out of the OPT, strangling the civilian population and devastating the Palestinian economy. This state of siege has intensified drastically since the beginning of the second Intifada (uprising) in September 2000.” From The Siege on Palestinian Life

Very special thanks to Dr. Robert Ben David, who contributed to the writing of this article.