Since the beginning of the second intifada, in September 2000, Israel has imposed restrictions on the movement of Palestinians in the West Bank that are unprecedented in scope and duration. As a result, Palestinian freedom of movement, which was limited in any event, has turned from a fundamental human right to a privilege that Israel grants or withholds as it deems fit. The restrictions have made traveling from one section to another an exceptional occurrence, subject to various conditions and a showing of justification for the journey. Almost every trip in the West Bank entails a great loss of time, much uncertainty, friction with soldiers, and often substantial additional expense. The restrictions on movement that Israel has imposed on Palestinians in the West Bank have split the West Bank into six major geographical units: North, Central, South, the Jordan Valley and northern Dead Sea, the enclaves resulting from the Separation Barrier, and East Jerusalem. In addition to the restrictions on movement from area to area, Israel also severely restricts movement within each area by splitting them up into subsections, and by controlling and limiting movement between them. This geographic division of the West Bank greatly affects every aspect of Palestinian life. B’TSELEM - The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories Ground to a Halt 8 Hata’asiya St., Talpiot P.O. Box 53132 Jerusalem 91531 Denial of Palestinians’ Freedom Tel. (972) 2-6735599 Fax. (972) 2-6749111 of Movement in the West Bank www.btselem.org • [email protected] August 2007 Ground to a Halt Denial of Palestinians’ Freedom of Movement in the West Bank August 2007 Stolen land is concrete, so here and there calls are heard to stop the building in settlements and not to expropriate land. But time? It is abstract. Time, however, is a precious resource of everyone. The time that is stolen at checkpoints, in anticipation of permits, cannot be returned. The loss of time that Israel steals daily from three and half million people is evident in everything: in impeding the ability to gain a livelihood, in economic, family and cultural activity, in leisure hours, in studies and in creative efforts, in reducing the living space of every person, and thus in narrowing the horizon and expectations.1 1. Amira Hass, “The Natives’ Time is Cheap,” Ha’aretz, 23 February 2005. B’Tselem Staff and Board of Directors Chair, Board of Directors: David Kretzmer, Gila Svirsky Board Members: Neta Amar, Anat Biletski, Orna Ben-Naftaly, Menachem Fisch, Tamar Hermann, Amnon Kapeliouk, Peretz Kidron, Menachem Klein, Victor Lederfarb, David Neuhaus, Danny Rubenstein, Alla Shainskaya, Ronny Talmor, Oren Yiftachel, Rayef Zreik Executive Director: Jessica Montell Staff: Suhair Abdi-Habiballah, Najib Abu Rokaya, Musa Abu Hashhash, Baha Alyan, Antigona Ashkar, Atef a-Rub, Khaled ‘Azayzeh, Anat Barsella, Lin Chalozin- Dovrat, Salma a-Deba’i, Ety Dry, Shirly Eran, Ofir Feuerstein, Maayan Geva, Tamar Gonen, Iyad Hadad, Kareem Issa Jubran, Ahlam Khatib, Yehezkel Lein, Sarit Michaeli, Micol Nizza, Noam Preiss, ‘Abd al-Karim Sa’adi, Muhammad Sabah, Diala Shamas, Ronen Shimoni, Zvi Shulman, Oren Yakobovich, Suha Zeid, Risa Zoll Table of Contents Introduction 7 Chapter 1 The Means to Control Movement 11 Physical means 12 Restrictions and prohibitions on movement 18 “Easing” of the restrictions and prohibitions 23 Chapter 2 Splitting the West Bank 31 Cutting up the West Bank into six areas 31 Internal division into sub-areas 39 Chapter 3 Harm to the Palestinian Fabric of Life 65 Health 65 Economy and trade 73 Family and social ties 81 Basic services and law enforcement 84 “Fabric of life” roads 87 Chapter 4 Restrictions on the Freedom of Movement from the Perspective of International Law 91 Right to freedom of movement and authority to limit it 91 Is protecting Israelis in the West Bank a legitimate security need? 92 Disproportionate restrictions 94 Restrictions on movement as collective punishment 99 The restrictions on movement are tainted by racial discrimination 100 Conclusion: Checkpoints Regime 103 Response of the Ministry of Justice 105 Introduction For the residents of the Occupied Territories, particularly West Bank residents, sweeping restrictions on freedom of movement are not a new phenomenon. Since the early 1990s, Israel has gradually and steadily expanded and refined its movement restrictions’ policy. Until 1991, Israel allowed all Palestinians from the Occupied Territories − except for a relatively small group of persons who were classified as security threats − to enter and stay in Israel during daytime hours. From time to time, Israeli security forces set up checkpoints in the West Bank to capture wanted persons and imposed restrictions on Palestinians wanting to go abroad. This ability to move around was a crucial factor in the creation of a Palestinian economy that depended heavily on Israel’s economy.2 It also aided in the establishment of social, cultural, and commercial ties between the West Bank and Gaza and with Palestinian citizens of Israel.3 In January 1991, during the first Gulf War, Israel changed its policy: the general permit was cancelled and every resident of the Occupied Territories needed an individual permit to enter Israel or East Jerusalem, which Israel had annexed in 1967. To enforce its new policy, Israel set up checkpoints at the crossing points between the Occupied Territories and Israel. These checkpoints have remained, in one form or another, until the present day. In March 1993, following the killing of nine Israeli civilians and six security forces by Palestinian residents of the Occupied Territories, Israel declared a general closure on the Occupied Territories “until further notice.” This declaration institutionalized the measure that Israel had taken two years earlier. In implementing its policy, Israel issued entry permits sparingly, based on unannounced criteria. In addition to the harm caused to the Palestinian economy, especially to the families of Palestinians who had worked in Israel and lost their jobs, the closure split the Occupied Territories into three areas: East Jerusalem, the rest of the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip. With the outbreak of the second intifada, Israel imposed more stringent restrictions on entry into Israel and on movement between the three areas. 2. For an extensive discussion on this issue, see B’Tselem, Crossing the Line: Violation of the Rights of Palestinians in Israel Without a Permit (March 2007). 3. See B’Tselem and HaMoked: Center for the Defence of the Individual, One Big Prison: Freedom of Movement to and from the Gaza Strip on the Eve of the Disengagement Plan (March 2005). 7 Ground to a Halt - Denial of Palestinians’ Freedom of Movement in the West Bank A gradual gnawing away at Palestinian freedom of movement had begun in the West Bank long before the second intifada. Two main reasons led to the splitting of the West Bank and the restrictions on freedom of movement. The first was the ever-expanding settlement enterprise, which spread along the length and breadth of the West Bank. The very existence of the settlements did not generally restrict Palestinian movement. In many instances, however, the site of the settlement was chosen to thwart the expansion of Palestinian cities.4 In addition, the building of a network of bypass roads, running between the settlements and between the settlements and Israel, accelerated the cutting up of the West Bank. Unlike the settlements, the road network did bring about a separation of Palestinian villages and of Palestinians from their farmland and from the major towns. As will be shown below, the settlement enterprise, including the roads built for it, was one of the primary factors in shaping the restrictions regime that Israel has forced on the Palestinians since the beginning of the second intifada and which forms the focus of this report. The second factor that led to splitting the space was the division of the West Bank, in the context of the Oslo Agreements, into three areas, based on the scope of the powers handed over to the Palestinian Authority. In Area A, the Palestinian Authority received all the powers relating to security and civil affairs. In Area B, Israel retained the powers relating to the police and army and with it the power to restrict movement. In Area C, the Palestinian Authority was given no authority, and Israel continued to be responsible for both security and civil affairs, including matters relating to land, planning, and building. This division did not of itself create a new impediment to Palestinian freedom of movement. However, Areas B and C comprised eighty percent of the West Bank, including the main roads, a fact that played an important role in the development of the movement restrictions’ regime. Though not a new phenomenon, the scope and duration of the movement restrictions that Israel has imposed since the outbreak of the second intifada, in September 2000, are unprecedented, in the history of the Israeli occupation. Even before the intifada, there was little Palestinian movement on the roads. Yet, the restrictions over the past seven years aggravated the situation, and Palestinian freedom of movement has turned from a fundamental human right to a privilege that Israel grants or withholds as it deems fit. 4. For example, according to the principal plan that guided the settlement policy of the Israeli government in the 1980s, “The Mountain Ridge Route [Route 60] is fundamentally a local Arab roadway. Jewish settlement along this route will create a mental barrier in relating to the mountain ridge, and is also likely to reduce the uncontrolled spread of Arab settlement.” See Ministry of Agriculture and the Settlement Division of the World Zionist Organization, Master Plan for Shomeron and Judea, Area Development Plan for 1983-1986 (Jerusalem, 1983), 22.