Israeli
Apartheid System in Occupied Territory
On 19 May, the Palestine
National Authority (PNA) sounded off alarm bells on Israel's intention
to divide the West Bank into eight separate and isolated Bantustants,
prohibiting Palestinian civilians from moving from one these isolated
area to another unless they are issued special movement permits from
the occupation authorities' so-called "Civil Administration".
Background
By mid-May, the Israeli government
informed international organization and government representatives that
a new closure regime would be enforced in the Occupied Palestinian Territory
(with the Israeli government treating Occupied East Jerusalem as part
of Israel proper). In defiance of the signed agreements, which oblige
Israel to inform and coordinate with the PNA any shifts in procedures
related to Palestinians within the Occupied Territory, Israel did not
contact the PNA of these objectionable planed procedures, nor did it
heed to international calls, such as those issued by the international
donor community.
Additionally, Palestinian
residents throughout the West Bank have not been informed of this treacherous
new procedure. As a result, they will only learn about it once they
reach one of the many Israeli roadblocks, where soldiers will turn them
back and demand that they obtain a permit.
What Does the Plan Mean
on the Ground?
1.The West Bank will be divided
into eight separated population centers: Jenin, Nablus, Qalqilia, Tulkarem,
Jericho, Ramallah, Bethlehem, and Hebron.
2.Traffic between these isolated
areas will not be allowed:
In order for any Palestinian
citizen to move from one Bantustant to another, he/she must apply to
the Israeli occupation authorities' so-called "Civil Administration"
for a special travel permit (which Israel ironically calls freedom-of-movement
permits), which will decide who has the right to move from one District
to another.
The permits do not include
East Jerusalem or the Gaza Strip.
Permits are only valid from
5:00am - 7:00pm, effectively enforcing a nighttime curfew on the entire
West Bank.
The permits must be renewed
each month, subject to approval.
Cars cannot be used to travel
from one area and enter another. The Israeli government will enforce
a "back-to-back system" where persons and products have to
be unloaded in a certain location at the entrance to a Bantustant in
order for another car inside it to transport the person or products
inside.
3.The Gaza Strip will be
divided into four Bantustants, isolated from one another and the rest
of the Occupied Territory.
Israel will only allow trucks
transporting food into the Gaza Strip; all other products and supplies
will be denied entry into the Gaza Strip, which depends almost entirely
on outside medical and other supplies.
4.The
Palestine National Authority's District Coordination Offices, which
according to the Oslo agreements shall be Israel's only contact for
procedures related to Palestinian civilians, will not be part of this
process. Consequently, Israel is attempting to gradually restore the
Israeli military occupation over the entire West Bank, starting with
the so-called "Civil Administration", which used to control
movement permits prior to the creation of the PNA following the Oslo
Accords.
5.International governmental
and non-governmental Organizations such as the International Red Cross,
which employ a large number of Palestinian civilians are also obliged
to obtain such permits for their Palestinian employees.
6.International employees,
such as UN workers and others, going through the Eretz checkpoint into
the Gaza Strip or out will be subject to search, in contravention of
all international treaties.
IMPLICATIONS OF THE PLAN ON DAILY LIVES OF PALESTINIANS
HEALTH:
1.International organizations
and representative offices, which have not yet asked for these permits,
will be unable to carry out their duties as needed.
Implications:
Health Organizations such
as the International Red Cross requiring freedom of movement, under
international law, for its staff, especially ambulance drivers and medical
crews. This new regime will forbid Palestinian ambulance drivers and
medical crews from carrying out their duties without having the permit.
Any work or emergency medical
assistance needed between the Districts past seven in the evening will
be impossible for the Palestinian staff. This will effectively paralyze
Palestinian health organizations, particularly the Red Crescent and
Medical Relief organizations. Consequently, thousands of daily medical
emergencies will be unable to reach hospitals on time, if at all. Hundreds
of deaths will also occur, as delays in arriving to hospitals for the
injured or gravely ill will result in death.
Hospitals in the West Bank's
northern Districts (Tulkarem, Jenin, and others) are not equipped to
receive medical cases in certain specialties and usually transfer the
seriously injured or ill to hospitals in Nablus or Ramallah.
EDUCATION:
a. At least one million Palestinian
students travel on a daily basis from their villages to nearby cities
in order to attend their school.
b.Tens of thousands of Palestinian
teachers travel everyday from their place of residence to their place
of work. The Ministry of Education, keeping in line with the PNA's rejection
of having any direct dealings with the so-called Civil Administration,
has instructed its teachers not to apply for these required permits.
(This situation applies to other civil servants who have similar circumstance.)
Implications:
School students will
be unable to attend their schools, thus disrupting the entire educational
system.
The current school year,
which has been extended to the end of June as a result of the numerous
Israeli invasions and reoccupation campaigns against West Bank cities
and towns, is now nearing the High School Baccalaureate Exams. Graduating
students must make it to examination centers in various locations, which
will now become almost impossible to achieve, especially for the male
students who constitute a target for Israeli occupation soldiers manning
the roadblocks.
Teachers, who now spend up
to five hours to get to their places of work while risking their lives
in the process, will be unable to reach the schools in which they teach.
These repercussions will
not only disrupt the educational process, it also threatens the quality
of education that students will be receiving in school.
c.Tens of thousands of Palestinian
university students attend universities in cities away from home.
Implications:
Students from the Gaza Strip
of Nablus city for example who are studying Ramallahs Birzeit
University will be either:
Confined to the area of their
university and unable to cross a roadblock, lest they be arrested or
shipped of to their original place of residence. This would include
their denial of the right to visit their families, which has so far
only been applicant to Gaza Strip university students studying in the
West Bank for the past twenty months.
Quit their university and
move back to their original place of residence, thus compromising their
higher educational experience and professional opportunities.
Students residing in Hebron
city for example and traveling to Bethlehem University on a daily or
weekly basis to attend classes will no longer be able to do so.
Professors teaching in one
University and residing in another District will ultimately loose their
position due to their inability to get to the lecture halls.
THE ECONOMY
a. West Bank cities, especially
in the Center are almost entirely dependant on cities in the north for
food products, specifically fresh produce.
b. International organizations
and donor countries executing development or emergency assistance programs
require freedom of movement between Palestinian towns, cities, and villages.
The new regime will deal a serious blow to these programs and most likely
result in their suspension in some cases.
Implications:
The Bantustant regime that
Israel intends to impose on the Palestinian Territory would translate
into an economic catastrophe as well as possibly immeasurable devastation
to the health status of Palestinian children and the elderly in particular.
The back-to-back system that
will be imposed will immediately increase transportation costs, which
will translate into the marketplace. Since at least 50% of Palestinian
families now live below the poverty level, higher costs in essential
food products will mean less food on the table. This reality will translate
into an increase in preventable health problems due to the circumstances
caused by the compounded tragedy caused by Israel's policies of collective
punishment.
This plan will also directly
impact the struggling Palestinian private businesses, which have barely
been able to survive the deteriorating economic situation in the Palestinian
Territory (The Palestinian economy has shrunk by one third between October
2000 and December 2001 alone). Consequently, the horrific unemployment
rate now plaguing the Palestinian society will inevitably rise as business
owners will attempt to cut their costs in order to survive.