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<font size=3 color="#191919">The Legend of the Removed Checkpoints<br>
Ran HaCohen, <i>The Electronic Intifada,</i> 24 April 2007<br>
<a href="http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article6830.shtml" eudora="autourl">
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article6830.shtml<br><br>
</a>Last Monday's paper gave us a small reason to be happy. Israeli Prime
Minister Ehud Olmert met with Palestinian Chairman Mahmoud Abbas for the
second time in just a few weeks. Reporting the meeting -- described by
Palestinian sources as "fruitless" -- <i>Ha'aretz</i>
noted:<br><br>
"An IDF lieutenant-colonel also attended the meeting. The officer
briefed the Palestinians on the plan to remove IDF roadblocks in the West
Bank. According to the officer, the IDF has so far removed 44 roadblocks.
He added that the IDF was planning to remove an additional 17 in the next
stage of the plan. The sources said that the Palestinian delegation
requested the removal of more roadblocks, and that Olmert expressed his
willingness."<br><br>
<b>Good News, Isn't It?!<br><br>
</b>Hear, hear: the IDF removed 44 roadblocks! This may not be much,
given the rather extensive list of restrictions imposed on Palestinians,
i.e.:<br><br>
<i>Standing prohibitions<br><br>
</i>Palestinians from the Gaza Strip are forbidden to stay in the West
Bank.<br>
Palestinians are forbidden to enter East Jerusalem.<br>
West Bank Palestinians are forbidden to enter the Gaza Strip through the
Erez crossing.<br>
Palestinians are forbidden to enter the Jordan Valley.<br>
Palestinians are forbidden to enter villages, lands, towns, and
neighborhoods along the 'seam line' between the separation fence and the
Green Line (some 10 percent of the West Bank).<br>
Palestinians who are not residents of the villages Beit Furik and Beit
Dajan in the Nablus area, and Ramadin, south of Hebron, are forbidden
entry.<br>
Palestinians are forbidden to enter the settlements' area (even if their
lands are inside the settlements' built area).<br>
Palestinians are forbidden to enter Nablus in a vehicle.<br>
Palestinian residents of Jerusalem are forbidden to enter area A
(Palestinian towns in the West Bank).<br>
Gaza Strip residents are forbidden to enter the West Bank via the Allenby
crossing.<br>
Palestinians are forbidden to travel abroad via Ben-Gurion Airport.<br>
Children under age 16 are forbidden to leave Nablus without an original
birth certificate and parental escort.<br>
Palestinians with permits to enter Israel are forbidden to enter through
the crossings used by Israelis and tourists.<br>
Gaza residents are forbidden to establish residency in the West
Bank.<br>
West Bank residents are forbidden to establish residency in the Jordan
Valley, seam-line communities, or the villages of Beit Furik and Beit
Dajan.<br>
Palestinians are forbidden to transfer merchandise and cargo through
internal West Bank checkpoints.<br><br>
<i>Periodic prohibitions<br><br>
</i>Residents of certain parts of the West Bank are forbidden to travel
to the rest of the West Bank.<br>
People of a certain age group -- mainly men from the age of 16 to 30, 35,
or 40 -- are forbidden to leave the areas where they reside (usually
Nablus and other cities in the northern West Bank).<br>
Private cars may not pass the Swahara-Abu Dis checkpoint (which separates
the northern and southern West Bank). This was canceled for the first
time two weeks ago under the easing of restrictions.<br><br>
<i>Travel permits required<br><br>
</i>A magnetic card (intended for entrance to Israel, but eases the
passage through checkpoints within the West Bank).<br>
A work permit for Israel (the employer must come to the civil
administration offices and apply for one).<br>
A permit for medical treatment in Israel and Palestinian hospitals in
East Jerusalem (The applicant must produce an invitation from the
hospital, his complete medical background, and proof that the treatment
he is seeking cannot be provided in the occupied territories).<br>
A travel permit to pass through Jordan Valley checkpoints.<br>
A merchant's permit to transfer goods.<br>
A permit to farm along the seam line requires a form from the land
registry office, a title deed, and proof of first-degree relations to the
registered property owner.<br>
Entry permit for the seam line (for relatives, medical teams,
construction workers, etc. Those with permits must enter and leave via
the same crossing even if it is far away or closing early).<br>
Permits to pass from Gaza, through Israel to the West Bank.<br>
A birth certificate for children under 16.<br>
A long-standing resident identity card for those who live in seam-line
enclaves.<br><br>
<i>Checkpoints and barriers<br><br>
</i>There were 75 manned checkpoints in the West Bank as of January 9,
2007.<br>
There are on average 150 mobile checkpoints a week (as of September
2006).<br>
There are 446 obstacles placed between roads and villages, including
concrete cubes, earth ramparts, 88 iron gates, and 74 kilometers of
fences along main roads.<br>
There are 83 iron gates along the separation fence, dividing lands from
their owners. Only 25 of the gates open occasionally.<br><br>
<i>Main roads closed to Palestinians, officially or in practice<br><br>
</i>Road 90 (the Jordan Valley thoroughfare).<br>
Road 60, in the North (from the Shavei Shomron military base, west of
Nablus and northward).<br>
Road 585 along the settlements Hermesh and Dotan.<br>
Road 557 west from the Taibeh-Tul Karm junction (the Green Line) to
Anabta (excluding the residents of Shufa), and east from south of Nablus
(the Hawara checkpoint) to the settlement Elon Moreh.<br>
Road 505, from Zatara (Nablus junction) to Ma'ale Efraim.<br>
Road 5, from the Barkan junction to the Green Line.<br>
Road 446, from Dir Balut junction to Road 5 (by the settlements Alei
Zahav and Peduel).<br>
Roads 445 and 463 around the settlement Talmon, Dolev, and Nahliel.<br>
Road 443, from Maccabim-Reut to Givat Ze'ev.<br>
Streets in the Old City of Hebron.<br>
Road 60, from the settlement of Otniel southward.<br>
Road 317, around the south Hebron Hills settlements."<br><br>
So, given this list, as I was just saying, removing 44 roadblocks may not
be much, but nevertheless, it is good news. Isn't it?<br><br>
<b>Back in December 2006 ...<br><br>
</b>Let's refresh our memory. It all started last December, when Olmert
met Abbas. Olmert promised to remove checkpoints in the West Bank:
"I intend to personally supervise it," he told Abbas, "so
that the Palestinian society would feel the relief"
(<i>Ha'aretz</i>, Dec. 24, 2006). The same day, <i>Ha'aretz</i> reported
that Defense Minister Amir Peretz and his deputy Ephraim Sneh were
actually working on a plan to facilitate Palestinian movement in the West
Bank.<br><br>
The two must have spent the whole night in their office, devising a plan
for dismantling not less than "45 out of approximately 400
checkpoints." At dawn, just as they intended to retire for a short
nap, they found <i>Ha'aretz</i> at the doorstep, the top of which
headline read: "IDF Opposes Olmert Plan to Dismantle West Bank
Checkpoints."<br><br>
This sounded like a story worth following. In a democracy, the government
sets the policy, the army carries it out. In other kinds of regimes, the
army sets the policy, the government nods. Which regime is
Israel's?<br><br>
<b>Olmert Withdraws<br><br>
</b>A few days later (<i>Ha'aretz</i>, Dec. 27, 2006) the prime minister
indeed ordered the army to dismantle scores of checkpoints -- but
"in a second phase, dependent on an additional decision of the
political echelon." So at the first stage, no checkpoints will be
removed (and then we'll see). This, as some Israeli sociologists claim,
has always been Israel's regime: instead of risking a dispute with the
army, the government complies with the army's demands.<br><br>
Meanwhile, Aluf Benn of <i>Ha'aretz</i> revealed that the "new"
plan to dismantle 45 checkpoints was nothing but an old document,
prepared by the Israeli army originally in English -- an "export
product" for American eyes -- back in 2005. And never implemented,
of course. So much for the sleepless night of Olmert's aides: all they
did was feed the media with an old army document.<br><br>
<b>The Army Rewards<br><br>
</b>Anyway, the prime minister gave the army a green light not to
dismantle any checkpoint. The army, for its part, did not leave this
ministerial gesture unrewarded. On Jan. 17 <i>Ha'aretz</i> reported that
the Israeli army finally complied.<br><br>
"The Israel Defense Forces announced yesterday that it recently
removed 44 dirt barriers that were located near Palestinian villages in
the West Bank. In recent years, the army established nearly 400 barriers
and permanent roadblocks. The move is one of a series of steps aimed at
easing restrictions on the Palestinians that were announced following the
December 24 meeting between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and PA Chairman
Mahmoud Abbas."<br><br>
So you see: Olmert did keep his solemn promise, and the Israeli army did
carry it out and did dismantle 44 checkpoints. At least, that's what the
army announced, and the Israeli army always tells the truth. Well, almost
always.<br><br>
<b>Oops ...<br><br>
</b></font>In this exceptional case, it took less than a week to expose
the dirty deal between the government and the army. Scores and dozens of
such deals -- among the government, the army, and the settlers -- are
never exposed; the entire Israeli colonial project is based on such
deals, made behind the back of all democratic mechanisms. But this was an
exception. On Jan. 22, following an embarrassing UN report, the army had
to admit: <br>
<dl>
<dd>The Israel Defense Forces admitted yesterday that the 44 dirt
obstacles it said had been removed from around West Bank villages did not
actually exist.<br><br>
<dd>Last Tuesday, the IDF announced that it had removed 44 dirt obstacles
that blocked access roads to West Bank villages, to fulfill promises made
by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud
Abbas during their meeting a month ago. Olmert had pledged measures to
ease the lives of Palestinian civilians.<br><br>
<dd>However, a military source admitted yesterday that these obstacles
'had either been removed before the political level decided on the
alleviations or had been bypassed by Palestinians earlier, and a decision
had been made not to rebuild them.'<br><br>
</dl><font size=3 color="#191919">So the 44 "removed"
checkpoints, or dirt obstacles, didn't exist in the first place. The
Israeli lie probably counted on Israel's information superiority: after
all, who could count all those checkpoints better than the Israeli army?
Alas, the UN turned out as an unexpected party-pooper.<br><br>
<b>Yesterday's Lie Is Today's Truth<br><br>
</b>But why bother to tell the truth when a lie is just as good? Three
months later, Israel is again counting on our short memory. In an
official meeting between the Israeli prime minister and the Palestinian
president, no less, the army airs once again the legend about the 44
"removed checkpoints." The lie exposed in January is recycled
as truth in April, and everybody is happy: Israel can claim it kept its
promise, the Americans can claim progress in the "peace
process," even President Mahmoud Abbas can claim an
achievement.<br><br>
Who would bother to remind us that all this is nothing but a lie? The
abused Palestinians haven't felt any relief whatsoever, but have been
cynically cheated once again. And all of us media consumers have been
duped along with them.<br><br>
Remember this next time the Palestinians show their inexplicable
ingratitude.<br><br>
Remember this next time you hear an official Israeli
announcement.<br><br>
<i>Dr. Ran HaCohen was born in the Netherlands in 1964 and grew up in
Israel. He has a B.A. in Computer Science, an M.A. in Comparative
Literature, and his PhD is in Jewish Studies. He is a university teacher
in Israel. He also works as a literary translator (from German, English
and Dutch), and as a literary critic for the Israeli daily Yedioth
Achronoth. Mr. HaCohen's work has been published widely in Israel.
"Letter from Israel" appears occasionally at
<a href="http://www.antiwar.com/">Antiwar.com</a>. This article, which
first appeared on Antiwar.com, is republished with the author's
permission.</i> <br><br>
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