Is Israel severing East Jerusalem from the West Bank?
Palestinians fear that Israel is further trying to isolate the West Bank by blocking roads and ripping asphalt.
By Amira Hass Tags: Jerusalem Israel news West BankBlocked roads and asphalt that has been ripped open like a zipper can be seen everywhere in Ramallah these days. And whether or not the municipality bothers posting explanatory signs, people know what is being done - a new road, sewage pipes, a sidewalk.
But seven or ten kilometers away, at the Qalandiyah and Jaba checkpoints, which together form the southern border of the Ramallah enclave, it is not clear what is happening. This area, which is completely under Israeli control, is also the scene of intensive construction. But nothing is known about this work other than rumors about Israel's intentions.
Every night for the past four months or so, bulldozers guarded by army jeeps have been changing the appearance of the Qalandiyah checkpoint. Its area has been expanded, the number of lanes has been increased and another booth and building have been added. Sometimes the checkpoint is closed to vehicular traffic at night to prevent the work from being disrupted.
People complain, just as they complain about the traffic jams in Ramallah. But here, the complaints have another aspect: People are upset over the lack of control, the lack of information and the intuitive feeling that nothing good will come of this. To a Palestinian, every checkpoint drives home the fact that Israel sees him as a subject - someone who need not be consulted and whose welfare is not taken into account.
Israel calls the checkpoint a "terminal" and relates to it as an existing, legal border between the State of Israel and the Palestinian entity. For Palestinians, the Qalandiyah checkpoint is a physical representation of the fact that for most of them, East Jerusalem has become as far away as the moon. Most of the people who pass through Qalandiyah are Palestinian residents of Jerusalem. A minority are West Bank residents who have temporary permits to enter Israel.
Those going to Jerusalem cross the checkpoint from north to south. Those heading for other towns in the West Bank drive three kilometers to the east, to the Jaba junction, which is on the new Route 60 that bypasses Ramallah. During the daytime, Israeli bulldozers are busy expanding this junction. The military checkpoint at Jaba, which controls entry into Ramallah, also contributes to the creation of the long traffic jams that characterize the junction.
Every morning and afternoon, tens of thousands of vehicles flow through the junction. For Palestinians, this is the only north-south axis connecting the southern West Bank with the northern part. For Israelis, this is the road that turns the settlements into luxurious suburbs of the capital.
It was possible to find an echo of the fears generated by the construction at Qalandiyah in one telegraphic sentence of the statement issued last Monday by Salam Fayyad's government. As usual, it condemned a long list of Israeli activities, including "the attempt to expand the area of the Qalandiyah military checkpoint as part of the plan to separate the West Bank from Jerusalem." Does the government have any concrete information? No, officials replied in answer to my question. They do not know for sure, but they are guessing, and condemning. In other words, the hallmarks of subjugation that characterize individual Palestinians - the passivity, the fear and the lack of influence - are being replicated by their government.
According to the rumors, the real objective behind the expansion of the Qalandiyah checkpoint is to tighten supervision over the Jerusalem residents who pass through it. It is no secret that many Palestinian residents of Jerusalem work in Ramallah. Some of them even live there, due to the difficulty of finding appropriate housing in Jerusalem. And Israel's Interior Ministry is constantly trying to trace people about whom it can assert that "the center of their lives is not in Jerusalem," thus enabling it to revoke their residency status.
The rumor mill claims that all Palestinian residents of Jerusalem will eventually have to pass through Qalandiyah, which will have computerized record-keeping. Public transportation from Jerusalem is already obliged to travel only through Qalandiyah; buses and taxis have been forbidden to drive through the Jaba junction to the Hizmeh (Pisgat Ze'ev) checkpoint, which the settlers use. West Bank residents who have permits to enter Israel are also forbidden to cross at Hizmeh.
The only ones who are allowed to use Hizmeh are Palestinian residents of Jerusalem in private vehicles, which drive bumper to bumper with the vehicles of settlers from Eli and Migron. And in the long run, so the rumors in Ramallah and Jerusalem say, they, too, will be obliged to drive through Qalandiyah. If all Jerusalem residents were ordered to drive only through Qalandiyah, Hizmeh would be totally closed to Palestinians; only settlers and other Israelis would be allowed to cross through it.
Other rumors talk of a special lane that will be built at Qalandiyah for VIPs and diplomats. Machsom Watch activists have heard a guess to this effect from the soldiers and security guards stationed at Qalandiyah. Today, in order not to waste their precious time, diplomats and VIPs drive through a special crossing for the privileged, located east of Ramallah near the Beit El military base. But if a special lane were set up for them at Qalandiyah, the road on which the Beit El checkpoint is located could be permanently blocked.
The rumors might indicate a general belief that VIPs would not shy away from or oppose driving on a special fast lane separate from the one used by ordinary mortals.
But an Israeli security source told Haaretz that the rumors are unfounded. There is no intention of closing the Beit El crossing, there are no instructions to open a special VIP lane at Qalandiyah, and there is no intention of forcing everyone to drive through Qalandiyah while forbidding Palestinians to use the Hizmeh crossing, he said.
The Israel Defense Forces Spokesman said the work now underway was undertaken "due to a combination of safety considerations and transportation considerations, and the aim is to improve the fabric of life of the Palestinian and Israeli citizens who pass through this site, and to lessen the traffic load." The spokesman added that numerous accidents have occurred at the Jaba junction.
Regarding the issue of Palestinian residents of Jerusalem using the Hizmeh crossing, the spokesman said that "at present, no changes can be expected in the existing traffic arrangements at this site."
Which leaves us with one question: What does "at present" mean?
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So BBSNEWS, Your point is that the land conquered in 67 is illegal it was conquered in war right? and as such even if annexed you will say it is inadmissable. Now, two questions for you: 1 did Israel declare war on Jordan or vice versa? Jordan delcared war on israel in 67, this is a fact. So what was Israel to do? beat the jordanians, then return it to them? maybe, Secondly, even if above is correct, how does Jordan relinquishing its claim to the area after 67, revert the claim to the land to a peoples who never had a state on it, EVER, in the recorded history of mankind? the Palestinians? Please, show me the LAW OR LEGAL PRECEDANTS FOR THIS CLAIM THAT YOU CONSTANTLY ASSERT. please use Law not Bleeding heart, need=claim BS.
And if you do not agree with Gene's point, notably, that the Green Line should be the border, why is it that Palestinians in some instances take on the circumstance, assume the responsibilities owed and other liabilities that were once Jordan's, yet not in every instances. What legally are the foundations for some of the instances and can you advise a more objective means to deciphering with liabilies, responisiblities and claims transfer from Jordan to Palestinians, and which ones don't and why it goes this way. more often than not it seems that when it suits palestinian interest they are termed with Arabs, and Arab actions, when it doesn't best suit Palestinians they are split from the Arab grouping and well that just doesn't make much sense, how can one, after the fact, using the 20-20 hindsight of history decide when they were part of the decisions for group A and when for group P? Well how can you do this and remain objective is also another worthy question
...You Please advise what was logical and factually incorrect in Dr. L. Brnd post. As well what was hateful. I'd love to better understand your position and you seem like a passionate person which is in my opinion a very admirable trait, in today's society eccentricity, as espoused by JSMill, is hard to find, and especially hard to come by on topics of importance. you can email me, alwayslearning@live.ca
...you are claiming that Israel can live with no borders for decades as a state, so in your argument there is nothing precluding Palestine to declare the same. Very cagey to support the Palestinian unilateral declaration of a state in this way. Bravo! By the way, Israel does indeed have internationally recognized borders, Ben-Gurion signed off on 'em. Israel has prejudiced any move to take land outside of those borders by illegally transferring hundreds of thousands of its citizens into occupied territory in a wholly transparent attempt at "changing the facts on the ground" in a blatant land grab. As a result, decades of Israeli belligerency has inspired terrorism around the world. Time for all that to stop.
...learn the following bedrock international principle fully adopted after WWII that protects both Israel and the Palestinians as well as nations the world over: 'territory acquired by war is inadmissible' Go study why that principle is important, how it came into being, and how it has been applied in the modern world to date and then you will have the answers you seek. I'll bet you thought you were doing something cute that no wingnut here had done before. Not. For extra credit read MJ Rosenberg's "Remember These Digits: 78-22" and then you will know why so many of us cherish Amira, Gideon and the others who care about Israel really having peace.
Why take this sitting down --why not form groups and protest this work nightly and video tape it for the media? Why take this silently and allow it to occur? It seems to me what is missing there is public protest and it ought to be present. Dutch
Dear Amira, there is no doubt about the plans of Israel and Jerusalem administration about Palestinians trapped in town: either leave or accept a symbolic residual presence. Like the Indians in the reservations their role is to sell souvenirs to tourists, and do some cheap jobs in town.
Exactly the point. If you read the armistice agreements of 1949 between Israel and the Arab states you will find that it states specifically the the lines drawn are cease fire lines only and are not to be considered as borders. These are to be negotiated between the individual states. Israel has a negotiated border with Egypt, with Jordan - both dejure and negotiated between the parties. There is a defacto border with Lebanon except for the area of Rajah which the residents of the northern part of the village do not want to become part of Lebanon. These are the only borders. Not even Gaza has a dejure border with Israel although it can be considered defacto. So basically, there is nothing holy about the green line - it is nothing but a cease fire line.
The legal international law definition of occupation was defined by The Hague Convention of 1907. The Geneva conventions and the U.N. have not changed that definition. When anyone talks about occupation of territory under international law they must go to international treaties defining the terms. Under the definition of The Hague Convention, there is no occupation of Jerusalem or the West Bank. If you go to the so called commonly used definition of occupation, then what you say is true. But then we have to define what we are dealing with - individual definitions based on political outlooks or international law. And you are right - no one other than Israel recognized the annexation of East Jerusalem. So who does it belong to ? Under
Where in international law do you find a definition of occupation that does not correspond to what goes on in the West Bank or east Jerusalem? There are of course always a certain room for interpretation in regard of international law, but the international community as well as law experts around the world are quite clear on this. There are people saying what you are saying, but they are a small minority. Read the GC IV and you will see that a lot in there correspond to what goes on in the territories. But sure, send me the sources you are referring to, would be interesting to read.
Why do you consider the armistice line between Israel and Jordan (achieved though the military conflict) to be the border between Israel and Palestinians? Rather, shouldn't this border to be negotiated between two people who live along it?
The residents in the areas that were annexed were issued Israeli IDs, they receive NII payments, including child allowances just like any other Israeli resident, They can vote in Israeli elections. This was quite different from the situation under Jordan. And I suggest you look at the legal international definition of occupation. Under that, East Jerusalem or the West Bank is not occupied territory. If you don't know where to find the definition, let Me know.
Yes, it is correct that Israel annexed East Jerusalem but that annexation is considered illegal according to international law and no other states have recognised that annexation. Thus, according to the international community east Jerusalem is still under military occupation, and if you look at how the Palestinian population in East Jerusalem is treated, it becomes very clear that they are not in anyway considered by Israel to be part of that "annexation" but under occupation...
If I remember correctly, East Jerusalem or at least parts of it, were annexed by Israel and the residents given Israeli ID cards. And, as a result of that, Israeli law, not Ottoman or Jordanian Law holds in East Jerusalem, unlike in the rest of the west bank.
if you know anything about Kalandia, you will know that it has NOTHING to do with security, rather, it is all about harassment. It is not dividing Jerusalem from the West Bank - the immediate area once through Kalandia going towards Ramallah is part of Jerusalem, we have Bezeq lines, we pay Arnona, and we have blue ID cards. Israel would be better served if it made travel through this checkpoint as simple as it is passing through Hizma, after all, those driving through Kalandia all carry blue Israeli ID's - why should we have to go all the way around Hizma ........and to NO: 8.......I suggest you fence yourself in
The Russian Compound.
Ofcourse it is. No transportconcerns here. It's once again about establishing facts on the ground.
Dr Brnd was making the point that even the Arabs don't consider Jerusalem to be a divided city, not that they shouldn't call it Al-Quds as you seem to think he was saying. Stating the facts is not hateful. What is hateful is your reaction to his viewpoint. Rather than respond in a kneejerk fashion why not try pointing out the error of his argument if you think there is one? I don't see why you would think any place would retain a name that was imposed upon it through war once it has been liberated. Do you think the Arabs would have retained the name of Israel if they were victorious?
Judging from Paul's hysterical post seems to me that you hit a nerve, ha ha ha. Congratulations and keep up the good work!
Good for Bibi and the govt.Fence em in and let their fellow oil rich arab nations take care of them.Keep these hater terrorists out of Israel.Their "leadership" is corrupt which is why they live as they do. Jerusalem is the UNDIVIDED capital of the JEWISH state of Israel..PERIOD!!
should announce to the world that they no longer want a state. The PA should dissolve itself and start a non-violent movement demanding Israeli citizenship including full rights and responsibilities, including serving in UDF like the Druz Arabs do. They got a better chance at that than uprooting WB settlements.
You're a hateful retard of which I question your doctorate degree should it be truly accurate. I suppose all the education in the world doesn't make one necessarily 'bright'. You're a poster-child for that statement. BTW, what significance does it have whether they call it Jerusalem or Al Quds amongst themselves? In arabic it is Al Quds einstein. Your posts are always so blindly hateful, so expect it in return. You're beneath me loser boy.
Excellent article by Amira Hass - the lady is a credit to Israel, unlike some of its sordid and morally corrupt politicians.
what is your point?
No logical or legal requirement that Israel preserve what they stand for. "East" Jerusalem and "West Bank" came into use after Trans-Jordan's illegal conquest and annexation in 1951 - never recognized by UN or any nation but Pakistan and the UK. The 6-Day War erased this travesty, and 25 years ago Jordan renounced its illicit claims West of the river (for some reason, they don't want to change the name of their country back to what it was). There is no reason for Israel to enshrine "East" Jerusalem or "West" Bank in its policies, and those artificial terms - like East Berlin - belong in the dustbin of history. Really idiotic part of Arab claims to ANY of Jerusalem is that they only use that name when talking to westerners; among themselves its "Al-Quds", not even "Arab East Al-Quds". Qalandia airport, Hizma and what is now Pisgat Zeev were never inside the old Jordanian municipal boundaries of "East Jerusalem", so by what standard of honest journalism do they become part of it now?
... until the next yo yo opens fire with his AK47 at passing cars.
Khaled Abu Toameh is a West Bank born Israeli Arab journalist. He recently wrote a piece titled " THE GOOD OLD DAYS BEFORE PEACE". In it he he cites the time before Arafat arrived in the West Bank, before the Oslo accords...when 200,000 Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza travelled freely to work in Israel. When Jews and Arabs shopped in each other's markets daily. When the economy flourished for both peoples. He ends the piece sadly with the following "We have reached a point where many Jews and Arabs say, somewhat sarcastically, that they miss the good old days before peace."