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Arguably, the closure of the Palestinian territories
is nothing new. Following the Oslo Agreements in 1993, Israeli checkpoints have
been set up all around the territories - both on international borders with
Egypt and Jordan and along the Green Line, the border with Israel. Palestinians
wishing to travel between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank had to obtain an exit
permit from Israel, even after the establishment of a so-called safe passage
route between the two areas in 1999. At times, Israel has tightened this closure
by revoking all exit permits (including work permits inside Israel), or even
imposed an internal closure by cutting off Palestinian areas from each other. In
extreme situations, Israel has imposed a curfew on certain areas, preventing
Palestinians from even leaving their houses.
Since the beginning of the al-Aqsa Intifada however,
this tightened siege has become almost permanent, turning the checkpoints into
one of the most distinguishing features of the intifada. Trenches have been dug
up and blocks of concrete have been brought in to close off roads even for
emergency use. Curfews are the rule rather than the exception for villages like
Huwwarah, or cities like the Israeli-controlled part of Hebron. If the
topography of the West Bank still allows some illegal movement of people and
goods, the Gaza Strip has been totally sealed off for months, with even VIP card
holders prevented from moving in or out and the international airport closed
most of the time.
The consequences for the Palestinian economy have been
devastating. Farmers, workers, merchants and business people are unable to reach
their places of employment or to sell their goods and services. Loosing their
income, they will in turn be able to purchase less goods and services,
generating a further decline in production and employment. Figures released by
the United Nations Special Coordinator in the Occupied Territories (UNSCO) give
a bleak picture of the situation 13: GDP is steadily
declining, unemployment is rising, and an ever-growing share of Palestinians
does not even bother to seek work anymore. One figure is particularly striking
in this regard: if 93% of the 52'000 work permits granted by Israel were used in
the third quarter of 2000, only 42% of less than 4'000 permits left at the end
of the year were used. Even the lucky ones who retained a work permit during the
al-Aqsa Intifada were often prevented by the closure from reaching their work
place. Even if the siege was lifted now and the intifada stopped instantly, the
Palestinian economy would take years to recover, predicts UNSCO.
Behind the numbers are human stories, stories of
humiliations, of beatings at the checkpoints, of long detours through difficult
roads to reach schools and work. The PHRMG received appeals from the residents
of Huwwarah, prevented by the curfew from praying at the mosque on Fridays, and
from students from Gaza, accepted at Birzeit University but unable to obtain a
permit from Israel to reach the West Bank. At times Birzeit has even been cut
off from Ramallah, a 10-minutes drive away, and throughout the Palestinian
territories both teachers and pupils face enormous difficulties in reaching
their schools. Soldiers manning checkpoints are generally young and
inexperienced, and abuse is frequent and too often gratuitous. In some villages,
the siege has become so tight that food and medication are hard to come by (see
section on Food and Shelter). No words can explain the psychological burden, the
helplessness and frustration that Palestinians feel in their besieged towns and
villages. By definition, collective punishment strikes blindly at all.
Numbers are unable to summarize this human suffering,
except when death provides something to count. Because of the closure, the work
of ambulances and medical personnel has also been severely impeded. Sometimes,
the delays were such that people died at checkpoints before being able to reach
a hospital to receive treatment for their injuries or chronic illnesses. The
table below provides a list of such cases.14
- 13 See UNSCO, The Impact on the Palestinian Economy of the Recent
Confrontations, Mobility Restrictions and Border Closures, 1 October 2000 - 31
January 2001, released on 25 February 2001, www.unsco.org
- 14 compiled according to information published in the Palestinian media and
in some cases testimonies collected by the PHRMG
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