This article summarizes an August 2007 B’Tselem report now available in print. It’s one of a series of studies it conducts on life in Occupied Palestine to reveal what major media accounts suppress. This one is titled: "Ground to a Halt – Denial of Palestinians’ Freedom of Movement in the West Bank."

 

B’Tselem has a well-deserved reputation for accuracy and integrity. It’s the Jerusalem-based independent Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). It was founded in 1989 by prominent academics, attorneys, journalists and Knesset members to "document and educate the Israeli public and policymakers about human rights violations in (Occupied Palestine), combat (the Israeli public’s) denial, and create a human rights culture in Israel" to convince government officials to respect human rights and obey international law.

 

Its work is detailed, wide-ranging, carefully researched, and based on hundreds of testimonies and dozens of on-the-ground observations. For verification, it’s also cross-checked with relevant documents and other government sources. Work on this report was completed over a six month period in 2007. It included information from other reports, statements from political and military officials, petitions to Israel‘s High Court of Justice, and media accounts.

 

B’Tselem states: "For the past seven years (since the September 2000 Second Intifada began), Israel has imposed restrictions and prohibitions on Palestinian movement that are unprecedented in scope and duration." It refers to hundreds of permanent and temporary checkpoints, other obstacles, physical barriers, and Israel‘s Separation Wall (ruled illegal by the World Court) on confiscated Palestinian land.

 

Free movement in the West Bank is severely restricted and nearly always entails "intolerable and arbitrary delays, much uncertainty, friction with soldiers, and often substantial expense." B’Tselem stresses that throughout 2008, it will continue to focus on this topic – with new maps, short videos, and various "public education and advocacy activities to highlight" Israel‘s unnecessary, outlandish and illegal restrictive measures. People need to know, and B’Tselem intends to tell them.

 

This is its 14th report on this topic since September 2000. Previous ones covered specific type restrictions like checkpoints, for-Jews only roads, and the Separation Wall. The one is comprehensive. It surveys  all of them and their collective effects on Palestinians’ lives.

 

The measures aren’t new or restricted to the West Bank. They’ve been ongoing since the early 1990s and have undergone expansion and refinement ever since. Until 1991, Palestinians (except small numbers designated security threats) could move freely throughout the Territories and were able to enter and stay in Israel during daytime hours. It helped Palestine establish social, cultural and commercial ties to its neighbor, Israeli Arab citizens in it, as well as between Gaza and the West Bank.

 

During the January 1991 Gulf war, everything changed. General permits were cancelled and replaced by new restrictive policies. Thereafter, all Palestinians needed (selectively authorized) permits to enter Israel and East Jerusalem. Checkpoints and barriers were erected for enforcement. They’ve restricted movement ever since, and at times, like the 1993 killings of nine Israelis, became a general closure policy. All free movement was halted, Palestinians lost their jobs in Israel, few opportunities at home could replace them, and the Territories suffered great economic and social harm.

 

Closure also split the OPT into three areas: East Jerusalem, the remaining West Bank and Gaza. After September 2000, Israel tightened free movement further and continues harassing and containing relentlessly. Two main factors explain how:

 

— Israel’s "ever-expanding settlement enterprise….along the length and breadth of the West Bank;" they’re on strategically chosen and most valued lands; in areas designed to contain Palestinian city expansions; further harmed by Israel’s (for-Jews-only) bypass roads that constrict, isolate and divide West Bank areas; and

 

— the effects of the Oslo Accords; they split the West Bank into three areas – Area A under Palestinian Authority (PA) security and civil affairs control; Area B under Israel security and right to restrict free movement; and Area C under total Israeli control, including on matters relating to land, planning and building; Areas B and C comprise 80% of the West Bank, including its main roads, so that lets Israel restrict movement how, when, for as long, and for whatever purpose it wishes over most of the Territory.

 

After September 2000, its measures were hardened. It clamped down on free movement, isolated Palestinians in cantonized enclosures, and made a fundamental human right a privilege to grant or withhold as it pleases. Its pretext is security but, in fact, that’s false. The real aim is harassment, land grab, and a state-sponsored expulsion plan so Israel can seize all the land it wants for Jews only. It’s gone on for decades and so far unchallenged by the world community. B’Tselem wants to stop it along with all other law violations so Palestinians can have their long denied justice they deserve and should get.

 

Israel‘s Means to Control Movement

 

B’Tselem divides Israeli control into three categories reflecting "different layers" of restrictive policy. They, in turn, build on each other and are interrelated:

 

— physical means to divert movement to certain passageways and roads and prevent access to others;

 

— restrictions and prohibitions that first layer physical tools enforce; and

 

— the means to ease or tighten, selectively and under careful monitoring, second layer restrictions and prohibitions.

 

The essential idea is that in combination these layers represent a single control mechanism, all parts operate together, and determining their impact requires evaluating the combined effect of four types of control:

 

(1) obstructions to deny access to main roads; they divert Palestinians to checkpoints where the army (IDF) supervises movement from one area to another or can deny it altogether; obstructions are in different forms – dirt mounds, concrete blocks, boulders, trenches, fences and iron gates; their numbers have gradually increased and in mid-2007 totaled 455 throughout the West Bank; they limit pedestrian and vehicular movement, and especially affect the elderly, the ill, pregnant women and small children; they’re even more restrictive in winter when water accumulation turns dirt areas muddy;

 

(2) permanent staffed checkpoints; they’re fairly constant in number, and Israel has used them to some degree throughout 41 years of occupation; they gained prominence, however, after Israel cancelled general-entry (free movement) permits in 1991; they were then expanded during the Second Intifada; over time, they’ve become the most conspicuous occupation symbol and one of its most hated;

 

— in mid-2007, 80 were in place of which 33 were the last inspection point before entering Israel along the Green Line; the other 47 lie inside the West Bank, some with control towers; seven are to transfer goods; they’re called "back-to-back" because merchandise is unloaded on one side, checked, then reloaded on another truck on the other side; operating times vary – many open at 6AM and close at night; others are staffed around the clock but limit crossings to "urgent humanitarian" cases;

 

— movement restrictions vary from one checkpoint to another and always at Israel’s discretion; to pass,  travelers must show proper ID or crossing permits; searches may be conducted; procedures are at the discretion and mood of soldiers; some checkpoints are for pedestrians only; others are restricted to commercial and public transportation.

 

(3) so-called flying checkpoints; they’re temporary, may be erected anywhere, and remain for hours or longer; in recent years, they’ve increased in numbers – from a weekly average of 73 in late 2005 to 136 in 2006 to about 150 in 2007 and at times up to 200. Again, the pretext is security, their real aim is to harass, and no one does it better than Israelis.

 

Consider the effects of all checkpoints. Since September 2000, they’ve become "the main (source of) friction (between) Palestinians and Israeli security forces." They generate tension, create uncertainty, deny or delay passage, humiliate and overall makes things intolerable. They’re also degrading by demanding that males expose their upper bodies in public simply as a way to harass them.

 

It gets worse by selective detentions in so-called "positions" – isolated holding areas for additional "security" checks that, in fact, are to punish and further humiliate; they can last hours, in exposed heat or cold, without food or water, and at times include physical abuse; many Palestinians are affected daily; Israel’s high command has full knowledge; the government does as well; nominal recommendations are made to stop it, yet abuse continues and few offenders are ever punished.

 

(4) the Separation Wall; in June 2002, Israel decided to build it; again the claim was security; in fact, it was separation and theft of over 10% of Palestinian land, including for-Jews only roads to connect settlements with Israel and other settlements; most of the Wall is completed; its planned length is 721 kilometers; only 20% of it lies along the Green Line; most of it runs deep inside the West Bank; near Jerusalem, it surrounds the Ma’ale Adumim settlements about 14 km into the West Bank on stolen Palestinian land;

 

— its route creates two kinds of Palestinian enclaves – villages and farmland between the Wall and Green Line (in the "seam zone") on the Israeli side of the barrier; another area comprises villages on the Palestinian side that are surrounded on three or more sides because of the route’s winding path or that the Wall meets roads on which Palestinian movement is forbidden or physical obstructions prevent it.

 

Physical restrictions and movement prohibitions  give Israeli security forces more latitude, and they take full advantage through a fourfold layer of control:

 

(1) by imposing a siege to completely or partially prevent Palestinians from crossing to or from a certain area as well as isolating the area from other parts of the West Bank; it’s done with physical obstructions to block access and force residents to pass through staffed checkpoints; closing off the area facilitates sweeping movement prohibitions on specific classifications of people by gender, age or place of residence; the IDF claims their "risk profile" makes them "potential terrorists;" targeting them by siege is a frequently used post-September 2000 tactic; large areas of the West Bank have been affected; their degree of harshness varies; and areas like the Jordan Valley, Area A and cities like Nablus, Jenin, Tulkarm and Hebron have been especially impacted.

 

— in December 2001, the West Bank IDF commander signed the Proclamation Regarding the Closure of Area (Encirclement) (Area A); it classified it as a closed military area, was unlimited in duration and still remains in force; in April 2007, a separate order was issued for Nablus restricting entry to and exit from the city to certain checkpoints; again the army claims it’s a security measure "to prevent terrorists and materiel from leaving Palestinian towns in Judea and Samaria…."

 

(2) the "seam zone;" Israelis say it’s the enclosed area between the Green Line and Separation Wall; when its first section was completed (in October 2003), the IDF declared this section a closed military area with entry into it forbidden; later areas may also be closed off, but even ones that aren’t will have severe movement restrictions the way they’re imposed throughout the West Bank; all Palestinians are affected; Jews and foreigners have permits permitting easy entry and exit.

 

(3) prohibiting travel on certain roads for Jews only; on some roads, no Palestinian vehicles are allowed; on others, travel is allowed for ones with special permits; the Oslo Accords set the rules; most often (but not always), Palestinians may travel on Areas A and B roads but prohibited or restricted in Area C; they’re excluded from about 311 km of West Bank roads for Jews only; they connect settlements to Israel or other settlements.

 

— rules are so harsh and convoluted that further restrictions are imposed on some roads Palestinians may use; an example is forbidding Palestinian vehicles from crossing a road, requiring passengers to leave their vehicles on one side, cross on foot, and get other transportation on the other side; this creates great hardship, is only to harass, and in cases of passenger illness or mothers in labor it may be life-threatening; in addition, Israeli security forces have great enforcement latitude; orders are issued verbally, not in writing, and soldiers at checkpoints can pretty much do as they please, depending on their mood.

 

(4) harsh travel laws act as deterrence; they impose high fines and/or insurance requirements; Palestinian violators are treated discriminatorily; and a high percentage of drivers are affected.

 

To counter public criticism, Israel issued two selective easing measures; they help some Palestinians but tighten movement restrictions for others:

 

(1) the permits regime; since 1991, Israel required Palestinians to have personal entry permits to enter its territory and East Jerusalem; after 1996, Palestinians also needed permits to enter West Bank jurisdictional areas; post-September 2000, rules were further tightened; some Palestinians must have permits to enter, remain in, or leave large areas inside the West Bank, including the "seam zone" and areas under siege; other permits are needed to arrange (passenger and commercial) vehicular checkpoint crossings; a limited number are allowed based on the capacity of security forces to inspect vehicles, goods and passengers;

 

— B’Tselem lists nine different type permits for passenger vehicles – commercial ones; public ones for taxis and buses; movement in areas under encirclement; humanitarian ones; for permanent "seam zone" residents; for daily "seam zone" entry; "seam zone" entry for farming or work; and to enter the Jordan Valley;

 

— movement restrictions and prohibitions are so onerous and for so many reasons that Israelis consider permits a privilege; for Palestinians, they’re essential to meet daily needs; West Bank District Coordination Offices (DCOs) issue them, but procedures are unclear and lack transparency; B’Tselem believes "two general and sweeping criteria must be met" to get one:

 

(a) "lack of ‘prevention,’ either for security or police-related reasons relating to the applicant," and

 

(b) having documents to show justification for the request.

 

Quotas exist in all cases; when they’re filled, many qualified residents are left out; in addition, other qualifying procedures exist but are unstated; ultimately DCO officials have total discretion in awarding or denying permits and can be pretty arbitrary about it; "seam zone" residents provide an example of what all Palestinians endure; to get a permit to their own home area, they must prove they reside there from their ID card address on the day the declaration of closed military area was made or in some other way show their center of life is there; those getting one are allowed entry via one checkpoint only;

 

(2) So-called "fabric of life" roads for Palestinians only; the West Bank’s main roads are only for Jews; initially, those for Palestinians passed through villages and city centers, but because of criticism an alternate plan was developed – creating a separate, contiguous road network running north-south in the West Bank; it’s based on separate levels in places where Israeli and Palestinian roads meet; bridges and interchanges achieve separation with Israelis able to travel on top at high speed; lower level "fabric of life" roads comprising 20% of the West Bank’s total are for Palestinians; elements of the plan have been implemented and "fabric of life" roads are being built; they represent another part of Israel’s repressive apartheid scheme.

 

Splitting the West Bank

 

Article 13 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights states:

 

(1) "Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.

 

(2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to retu

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