This week, Israel announced that Gazans wishing to return to Palestine from Jordan will NOT be permitted to go to the West Bank (or anywhere else for that matter) but will be sent back to Gaza in specially-designated buses. Gazans must now return via the Allenby bridge on Thursdays only and will be sent directly back to Gaza. This rule affects ALL Palestinians registered as being from Gaza, even though they may reside in the West Bank.
NOTE: Many Gazans who reside in the West Bank have applied to have their residency changed to the West Bank. These applications have been refused and therefore now any Palestinian registered as being from Gaza will automatically be sent back to Gaza, even though many have not lived there for years. This rule affects thousands of Palestinians who work in the West Bank, attend university in the West Bank, or have married someone from the West Bank have established families in the West Bank.
To paint a more accurate picture of Israeli movement restrictions, the latest restriction must be added to the list of movement restrictions listed below:
(Compiled by Amira Hass)
Standing prohibitions
* Palestinians from the Gaza Strip are forbidden to stay in the West Bank.
* Palestinians are forbidden to enter East Jerusalem.
* West Bank Palestinians are forbidden to enter the Gaza Strip through the Erez crossing.
* Palestinians are forbidden to enter the Jordan Valley.
* 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).
* 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.
* Palestinians are forbidden to enter the settlements' area (even if their lands are inside the settlements' built area).
* Palestinians are forbidden to enter Nablus in a vehicle.
* Palestinian residents of Jerusalem are forbidden to enter area A (Palestinian towns in the West Bank).
* Gaza Strip residents are forbidden to enter the West Bank via the Allenby crossing.
* Palestinians are forbidden to travel abroad via Ben-Gurion Airport.
* Children under age 16 are forbidden to leave Nabus without an original birth certificate and parental escort.
* Palestinians with permits to enter Israel are forbidden to enter through the crossings used by Israelis and tourists.
* Gaza residents are forbidden to establish residency in the West Bank.
* West Bank residents are forbidden to establish residency in the Jordan valley, seam line communities or the villages of Beit Furik and Beit Dajan.
* Palestinians are forbidden to transfer merchandise and cargo through internal West Bank checkpoints.
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Periodic prohibitions
* Residents of certain parts of the West Bank are forbidden to travel to the rest of the West Bank.
* 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).
* 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.
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Travel permits required
* A magnetic card (intended for entrance to Israel, but eases the passage through checkpoints within the West Bank).
* A work permit for Israel (the employer must come to the civil administration offices and apply for one).
* 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).
* A travel permit to pass through Jordan valley checkpoints.
* A merchant's permit to transfer goods.
* 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.
* 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).
* Permits to pass from Gaza, through Israel to the West Bank.
* A birth certificate for children under 16.
* A long-standing resident identity card for those who live in seam-line enclaves.
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Checkpoints and barriers
* There were 75 manned checkpoints in the West Bank as of January 9, 2007.
* There are on average 150 mobile checkpoints a week (as of September 2006).
* 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.
* There are 83 iron gates along the separation fence, dividing lands from their owners. Only 25 of the gates open occasionally.
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* Road 90 (the Jordan Valley thoroughfare)
* Road 60, in the North (from the Shavei Shomron military base, west of Nablus and northward).
* Road 585 along the settlements Hermesh and Dotan.
* 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.
* Road 505, from Zatara (Nablus junction) to Ma'ale Efraim.
* Road 5, from the Barkan junction to the Green Line.
* Road 446, from Dir Balut junction to Road 5 (by the settlements Alei Zahav and Peduel).
* Roads 445 and 463 around the settlement Talmon, Dolev and Nahliel.
* Road 443, from Maccabim-Reut to Givat Ze'ev.
* Streets in the Old City of Hebron.
* Road 60, from the settlement of Otniel southward.
* Road 317, around the south Hebron Hills settlements.
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Travel time before 2000 versus today
Tul Karm-Nablus
Then: half an hour, at the most.
Now: At least an hour.
Tul Karm-Ramallah
Then: less than one hour.
Now: Two hours.
Beit Ur al-Fawqa-Ramallah
Then: 10 minutes.
Now: 45 minutes.
Katana/Beit Anan-Ramallah
Then: 15 minutes.
Now: One hour to 90 minutes.
Bir Naballah-Jerusalem
Then: seven minutes.
Now: One hour.
Katana-Jerusalem
Then: five minutes.
Now: "Nobody goes to Jerusalem anymore."
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Impossible Travel
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9 comments:
Apartheid? What apartheid?
War? What war?
Yes, what war indeed....what colonialist, ethnic cleansing war of aggression and occupation?
Palestinians are terrorists. God Bless the State of Israel.
killers are terrorists - sadly they come in all nationalities, some are even state-sponsored. those have the highest killing power too - just do the math.
blog trolls however are not anything like terrorists though it appears they are trying pretty hard. just irksome pests is all.
Seriously, I think we have graduated to new level of idiot.
Do you ever imagine these people typing away at their little computers, full of silly rage and anger?
I know...I know...I shouldn't try to get into their heads. It will just lead to not-happy places.
Yeah, because you're not someone typin away at your little computer, full of silly rage and anger.
Yes, what war indeed....what colonialist, ethnic cleansing war of aggression and occupation?
No anger there, just hyperbole and idiocy.
There's no such thing as a war of occupation. It's a buzzword you don't even understand.
Look at Israel, colonizing Gaza! By removing all Israelis from it! Colonization! Occupation! Ethnic cleansing!
Peaceful, peaceful Gazans, who only want to peacefully send their harmless Rockets of Peace into the Zionist entity. As a gesture of peace!
Why don't those Jews leave us alone?
yes, why don't the jews just leave us alone. Perhaps some other country would like them to create a state with their land. I nominate texas.
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