Easing of Restrictions on Palestinians' Movement in the West Bank, 2012
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Easing of restrictions on Palestinians’ movement in the West Bank, 2012 Published on B'Tselem (http://www.btselem.org) Easing of restrictions on Palestinians’ movement in the West Bank, 2012 Easing of restrictions on Palestinians’ movement in the West Bank, 2012 [1] December 20, 2012 Section of road linking ‘Ein Yabrud to Route 60 opened to Palestinian traffic. Photo: Iyad Hadad, B'Tselem, 7 May 2012 In 2012, the military and the Civil Administration removed several restrictions that had been imposed on Palestinians’ movement in various areas of the West Bank. During the second intifada, the militaryestablished dozens of checkpoints in the West Bank and placed hundreds of physical obstacles to movement of Palestinians throughout the area — mounds of earth, massive cement blocks, and ditches. In addition, Israel began construction of the Separation Barrier. These restrictions on movement were unprecedented in the history of the Israeli occupation, both in their scope and duration and in the severity of their impact on the daily routines of Palestinians in the West Bank. In recent years, Israel has scaled back these restrictions, and Palestinians can now travel relatively freely within the West Bank. However, the military continues to treat Palestinians’ freedom of movement as a privilege rather than as a right. While many checkpoints are now open for free passage, the infrastructure has been left in place in some of them, allowing for their reactivation on short notice. In addition to these checkpoints, which are intermittently manned, there are still about 16 permanently manned checkpoints scattered throughout the West Bank, as well as 16 checkpoints restricting Palestinian movement in the center of Hebron. Likewise, hundreds of physical obstacles are still standing, and Page 1 of 7 Easing of restrictions on Palestinians’ movement in the West Bank, 2012 Published on B'Tselem (http://www.btselem.org) the military also periodically erects ‘flying checkpoints’ at locations where there is no checkpoint infrastructure. The random activation of checkpoints across the West Bank makes it impossible for Palestinians wishing to travel between towns and villages to predict where they may come across a checkpoint and how long the trip could take. In addition, Israel denies all Palestinians, except those who hold special permits, access to specific areas of the West Bank such as East Jerusalem and the land west of the Separation Barrier, and severely restricts their access to other areas, such as the center of Hebron. To view maps legend click here [2]. Removal of the restrictions on access to the Jordan Valley, October 2012 On 15 October 2012, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) [3] reported that, as of 3 October 2012, the military had decided to cancel the restrictions on Palestinians’ movement between the Jordan Valley and the rest of the West Bank. The military began restricting movement in the Jordan Valley in the late 1990s and imposed much harsher limitations in 2005, when Israel began implementing its policy to isolate the area from the rest of the West Bank and to limit Palestinians’ ability to be in the area. For several years, Israel allowed entry to the Jordan Valley only to Palestinians who were registered as residents of the area on their ID cards, were owners of land there, or were employed there. In recent years, Israel has gradually eased the terms of these restrictions. According to the military’s notification to ACRI, it has now decided to remove them entirely. (View map legend [2]) [4] Two checkpoints were the primary means of restriction: Hamra and Tayasir. B’Tselem has found that, as of 17 October 2012, the instructions to lift the restrictions were being implemented at the Hamra checkpoint, whereas the soldiers at the Tayasir checkpoint were unaware of the new instructions. Northern entrance to Jericho, opened in July 2012 [5] In July 2012, in honor of Ramadan, the military removed concrete blocks that it had placed north of Jericho at the beginning of the second intifada. For twelve years, this roadblock had prevented entrance to Jericho from the north, forcing Palestinians wishing to move between Jericho and the central and northern West Bank to use the city’s southern entrance, which added about 15 km to their journey. (View map legend [2]) Page 2 of 7 Easing of restrictions on Palestinians’ movement in the West Bank, 2012 Published on B'Tselem (http://www.btselem.org) Salfit-Ariel road, opened partially in April 2012 [6] In 2000, a 1.7 km-long section of road stretching from the western entrance to the Ariel settlement to the northern entrance to the town of Salfit was closed to Palestinian traffic and barricaded on either side by concrete blocks and earth mounds.(View map legend [2]) In September 2011, the Civil Administration removed the roadblocks in coordination with the Palestinian DCO and opened the road to some Palestinian traffic, allowing passage of buses and taxis registered in advance between the hours of 6 A.M. and 10 P.M. only, and ambulances. In April 2012, the restrictions were further reduced: public transportation vehicles, ambulances, firefighting vehicles and vehicles belonging to the Salfit City Council and the Palestinian DCO are now permitted to use the road, without prior registration. The Civil Administration has stated its intention to open the road to all traffic at a later date. [7] A section of the old Nablus Road (Route 466, linking al-Jalazun and Ramallah), from Beit El to al-Jalazun, opened in April 2012 On Monday, 31 April 2012, the military opened the northern section of Route 466 – some two kilometers – to Palestinian traffic. The section runs close to the western fence of the Beit El settlement. The southern part of the road – approximately 800 meters long – was opened to Palestinian traffic about a year ago. This part begins in northern al-Bireh (next to the City Inn Hotel) Page 3 of 7 Easing of restrictions on Palestinians’ movement in the West Bank, 2012 Published on B'Tselem (http://www.btselem.org) and runs some 30 meters away from the old, southwestern entrance to Beit El. The entire road, which the military closed at the beginning of the second intifada, is now open to Palestinian traffic. (View map legend [2]) This road serves some 10,000 people living in the villages east of Ramallah and in ‘Ein Siniya, Jifna and the al-Jalazun refugee camp. Closing the road forced residents to take a roundabout route at least 5 km long, instead of traveling 2.5 km on Route 466. [8]Zawata-Ajnisinya road, 2 km long, opened in March 2012 This road is an old route that connects the villages of Zawata and Ajnisinya and is used by Zawata residents to access their farmland. At the beginning of the second intifada, the military blocked entrance to the road with an earth mound, claiming that it was supposed to serve military purposes only: linking the military camp on Mount Ebal, north of Nablus, with the settlement of Shavei Shomeron. Palestinians were thereby forced to detour 8 km via ‘Asirah a-Shamaliyah to reach the small village of Ajnisinya (pop. 500). In 1998, the Palestinian nonprofit organization al-‘Ofoq began building 200 housing units for teachers from Nablus on Zawata land lying north of the village. The project was scheduled for completion in 2003 but, following closure of the road in 2000, construction was halted. Now, the reopened road requires extensive repair to enable vehicles to use it, particularly the heavy trucks needed to resume construction of the housing project. (View map legend [2]) [9]Main entrance to Beit Dajan (Route 557), opened in March 2012 Route 557 (known also as the “Madison Route”), which leads from the Hawara checkpoint to the Page 4 of 7 Easing of restrictions on Palestinians’ movement in the West Bank, 2012 Published on B'Tselem (http://www.btselem.org) settlements of Itamar and Elon Moreh, was closed to Palestinian traffic at the beginning of the second intifada. Apparently, the military designated it for exclusive use by settlers and their guests. Palestinians were forbidden even to cross the road by car. This prohibition isolated over 14,000 Palestinians living in Beit Furik and Beit Dajan, and forced them to cross checkpoints within Nablus in order to reach villages lying west of Route 557. When traveling to the central or southern West Bank, they had to cross Route 557 on foot, go through the Beit Furik checkpoint at the entrance to Nablus and then cross the Hawara checkpoint (opened to Palestinian traffic in June 2009) to go south, or alternatively take a long detour via the adjacent villages of Salem, Deir al-Hatab and ‘Azmut. On 10 February 2011, the military began allowing Palestinian vehicles through the Beit Furik checkpoint, which eased access to Nablus and to the villages west of the road. On 20 March 2012, two sections of the road were opened to Palestinian traffic: from the entrance to Beit Dajan to the Beit Furik checkpoint, and from the Hawara checkpoint to the ‘Awarta checkpoint, which made movement somewhat easier for Palestinians. However, two other parts of the road – from the entrance to Beit Dajan to the Elon Moreh settlement, and from the ‘Awarta checkpoint to the Beit Furik checkpoint – are still closed to Palestinians. (View map legend [2]) [10]The Shufa-Tulkarm road (5615), opened in March 2012 The village of Shufa, in the Tulkarm district, is home to 2,000 people living in two distinct sections — the southeast and the northwest, the latter known as ‘Izbat Shufa. The two parts of the village are linked by a short road (Route 5615), which is crossed by the road that leads to the Avne Hefetz settlement.