Palestinians Fear Apartheid Two-Tier Road System
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- Written by ETHAN BRONNER ETHAN BRONNER
- Published: 28 March 2008 28 March 2008
- Hits: 3953 3953
“They took our land to build this road, and now we can’t even use it,” Mr. Abu Safia says bitterly, pointing to the highway with one hand as he drives with the other. “Israel says it is because of security. But it’s politics.”
The object of Mr. Abu Safia’s contempt — Highway 443, a major access road to Jerusalem — has taken on special significance in the grinding Israeli-Palestinian conflict. For the first time, the Supreme Court, albeit in an interim decision, has accepted the idea of separate roads for Palestinians in the occupied areas.
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel told the Supreme Court that what was happening on the highway could be the onset of legal apartheid in the West Bank — a charge that makes many Israelis recoil.
Built largely on private Palestinian land, the road was first challenged in the Supreme Court in the early 1980s when the justices, in a landmark ruling, permitted it to be built because the army said its primary function was to serve the local Palestinians, not Israeli commuters. In recent years, in the wake of stone-throwing and several drive-by shootings, Israel has blocked Palestinians’ access to the road.
This month, as some 40,000 Israeli cars — and almost no Palestinians — use it daily, the court handed down its decision, one that has engendered much legal and political hand-wringing.
The one-paragraph decision calls on the army to give a progress report in six months on its efforts to build separate roads and take other steps for the Palestinians to compensate them for being barred from Highway 443. It is the acceptance of the idea of separate road systems that has engendered commentary, although legal experts say there is a slight chance that the court could reconsider its approach when it next examines the issue.
“There is already a separate legal system in the territories for Israelis and Palestinians,” said Limor Yehuda, who argued the recent case for the civil rights association on behalf of six Palestinian villages. “With the approval of separate roads, if it becomes a widespread policy, then the word for it will be ‘apartheid.’ ”
Many Israelis and their supporters reject the term, with its implication of racist animus.
“The basis of separation is not ethnic since Israeli Arabs and Jerusalem residents with Israeli ID cards can use the road,” argues Dore Gold, president of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, a conservative research organization. “The basis of the separation is to keep out of secure areas people living in chaotic areas. If the Palestinian Authority, which has thousands of men under arms, had fought terror, this wouldn’t have been necessary.”
The court’s latest decision is significant because it accepted the idea in principle put forth by the army — that while it had no choice but to ban Palestinian traffic from the road because of anti-Israel attacks on it, some of which it says originated from the surrounding villages, it would build separate roads for the Palestinians.
The court has never ruled on the legality of separate roads, despite a growing network of them around the West Bank. If this interim decision reflects its view that such a system is legally acceptable, that represents a big new step. A court spokeswoman said the justices would not comment.
David Kretzmer, an emeritus professor of international law at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, wrote in an op-ed article in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz of what he called the “judicial hypocrisy” of Israel’s reign over the territories manifest in this case.
He said that while the changed security circumstances of recent years may have forced a change in the road’s mixed use, “the unavoidable conclusion is that, as unfortunate as this may be, Israelis should not be allowed to travel on the road that was built, let’s not forget, for the benefit of the local population.
“But the military government has, of course, decided otherwise: Israelis will be allowed to travel on the road, while Palestinians — for whom, the court’s ruling says, the road was paved — cannot use it, and access to the road from local Palestinian villages will be blocked.”
For many Israelis, however, the dozens of attacks that have taken place on the road in recent years are reason enough to ban Palestinian traffic there and to limit Palestinians to other routes. In 2001, for example, five Israelis were killed by gunfire on Highway 443 and since then a number of others have been injured from stone-throwing.
Still, the legal case seems more complicated. In The Jerusalem Post, Dan Izenberg wrote that international law and Israeli court decisions were unambiguous on the fact that the road should primarily serve Palestinians rather than Israelis, but that the court was in a delicate position just now because of growing public discontent with it over other issues.
“The High Court in this case cannot stray too far from the interests of the Israeli public, especially at a time when it has more than its share of enemies,” he wrote. “The court knows that Israelis who rely on Highway 443 would not easily accept a ruling that causes them such inconvenience.”
Gershom Gorenberg, an Israeli who wrote a book critical of Israeli settlements, runs a blog called South Jerusalem (www.southjerusalem.com) on which he has posted documents from the 1960s and 70s showing that the governments planned to expand the Jerusalem corridor with settlements and a bigger road after conquering East Jerusalem in the 1967 war. In that sense, he says, the government and army were never honest in what they told the Supreme Court about the purpose of Highway 443.
“Think of the road itself as a settlement,” he said, “part of the conscious effort to change the character of the area, giving it an Israeli stamp. The point was to make it impossible for Israel ever to return certain parts of the land. It is true that Palestinians had free movement on 443 in the 1980s and 1990s before the restrictions were imposed. But to claim that it was built for them does not line up with the paper trail. The cover story of this road has been blown.”
For the 30,000 Palestinians who live in the surrounding villages, lack of access to Highway 443 has been a constant source of difficulty. In one village, A Tira, 14 taxis have permits to travel the road during daylight but locals say that has not eased the burden much.
Each morning, a crowd gathers at the blocked entrance to A Tira, waiting for the Israeli soldiers to open a gate so they can take one of the taxis to Ramallah, the capital of the West Bank.
“Ten days ago, my brother had a heart attack and we had trouble transferring him to a Ramallah hospital,” lamented Said Salameh, 51, a taxi driver who has a permit for the road, as he stood by the entrance one recent morning. “When the gate closes at night, we can’t move outside the village.”
Sabri Mahmoud, a 36-year-old employee of the Palestinian Authority, agreed. “I am always late to work because of this,” he said. “Our life is controlled by the opening hours of the gate. You feel like you live in a cage.”
For many legal commentators in Israel, the most distressing part is that by giving Highway 443 to Israelis and barring Palestinians, Israel is protecting its citizens not from terrorism but from traffic — granting them an alternative to the crowded main Jerusalem road.
Ms. Yehuda, the civil rights lawyer, said that the Supreme Court’s 1982 ruling specifically stated that if the point of the road was primarily to serve Israelis, then it may not be built. Yet now, she added, “The state is essentially aiming to safeguard the convenience of the service road for Israelis who commute from Tel Aviv and the central plains to Jerusalem and vice versa.”
Khaled Abu Aker contributed reporting from A Tira, West Bank.
Report: World ignoring Iraqi refugee crisis
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- Written by CNN CNN
- Published: 27 March 2008 27 March 2008
- Hits: 4302 4302
- Story Highlights
- Man called "Mr. B" supports family on $4 a day he earns selling cigarettes, gum
- Report: Many of the more than 4 million refugees are living in fear, destitution
- Group chides international community for not providing more aid, asylum
- Refugee: Returning home not an option because "I'll just be kidnapped and killed"
(CNN) -- "Mr. B" and his family dodged militias by moving from house to house in Baghdad -- but they couldn't escape being Sunni or the fact that Mr. B had served in Saddam Hussein's military.
Their home eventually was bombed, injuring Mr. B's second youngest son, who now bears a scar from belly to breastbone. Friends and neighbors were kidnapped, some killed. A friend's brother was tortured, his mutilated corpse dumped in the neighborhood, Mr. B told an aid group.
Mr. B, his wife and five children finally fled for Syria in 2006, according to the International Rescue Committee, which issued a report this week detailing the plight of Iraqi refugees on the five-year anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
"How can we go back and live there after what we have seen?" Mr. B asked.
Like the other refugees interviewed for the report, Mr. B asked that his real name not be used, for fear of retribution. 
See photos of refugees young and old »
Mr. B and his family now live in a two-room apartment, bare but for two tattered divans, a small TV and thin mats on the floor, the IRC reported. Two of his children have heart problems. Another has diabetes. The son injured in the blast still suffers from trauma.
Mr. B fears letting his children, ages 4 to 12, play outdoors, he told the agency. He is supporting the family on a daily wage of about $4, which he musters by peddling gum and cigarettes on 11- to 12-hour shifts.
The story of Mr. B is hardly anomalous, according to the IRC. The group's report, "Five Years Later, a Hidden Crisis: Report of the IRC Commission on Iraqi Refugees," said more than 4 million Iraqis have been uprooted by the violence that has wracked their nation.
Many fled Iraq after their friends or family members were kidnapped, raped, tortured or murdered, the report said. There are also large numbers suffering from anxiety and depression; others are struggling to find ways to pay for food, basic services and health care.
The report accuses the international community, especially the United States, of ignoring "one of the largest humanitarian crises of our time."
"We believe the United States has a special responsibility to Iraqi refugees, if only to restore its credibility. The violence they flee is an unplanned-for byproduct of the American invasion of Iraq, and its chaotic aftermath," the report said.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees has said the Iraqi refugee crisis is the most significant population displacement in the Middle East since Israel was established in 1948.
The Iraqi refugee population is the third largest in the world, the IRC says, topped only by the Afghan and Palestinian refugee populations. About 2 million Iraqis have fled, mostly to Syria and Jordan, and about 2.5 million more are displaced inside Iraq.
"Neither the U.S. nor the rest of the world is paying sufficient heed: External help provided by regional countries and major international donors has been half-hearted and woefully insufficient," according to an IRC statement.
The report calls for countries -- particularly European nations and the U.S. -- to grant asylum to thousands of refugees and asks that the United Nations hold a conference with government officials and international donors to assess the crisis.
It also suggests that the international community provide billions of dollars in aid, while working to improve conditions in Iraq so refugees can return.
"Contrary to media reports that indicate refugees are repatriating because of improved safety in Iraq, all Iraqis in Syria and Jordan queried by the commission found unimaginable the prospect of returning any time soon to ruined and occupied homes in still-volatile communities," the statement said.
In Amman, Jordan, the group spoke to "Mr. E," a logistician who fled Iraq after militants bombed the company he worked for, killing three staffers. He moved to the Jordanian capital to live in his uncle's house.
Asked by the IRC if he would return to Iraq, he replied, "Why? I'll just be kidnapped and killed. I get death threats on my phone."
The IRC compiled the report after meeting with refugees, aid workers and officials from the United Nations, U.S., Iraq, Jordan and Syria. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was among the officials interviewed.
The report praises Syria and Jordan for their generosity, but the IRC asks that both nations do more to facilitate aid deliveries and to find employment for the refugees.
The report paints a picture of a refugee population living in fear and poverty.
"The ever-present fear of detention and deportation forces many of them to live hidden from society," the report said. "Worse, many feel they have no future, and that their lives and those of their children are hopeless."
In Amman, a widow who went by "Mrs. T" told the IRC that she left Baghdad after her daughter was sexually assaulted and her husband was tortured and murdered. She now lives in a cold, cramped apartment with her two daughters, their husbands and several grandchildren.
No one in the household is permitted to work legally, and they survive largely on help from aid agencies. But the handouts don't cover all their needs -- Mrs. T recently went blind because she was not able to afford treatment for her high blood pressure, she told the IRC.
The report said there generally are only three options for refugees: return home, remain abroad or resettle elsewhere.
"None of these is a good option. It is still too dangerous for many to go back, they cannot afford to remain as they become increasingly destitute, and yet only a very few will be resettled in other countries," it said.
The report was issued Tuesday, the same day that James Foley, the State Department's senior coordinator for Iraqi refugee issues, said he's confident that the U.S. can hit its goal of letting in 12,000 Iraqi refugees by October.
This fiscal year, the United States has had 1,876 arrivals. That number, however, is about 1,500 higher than reported in early February.
Foley -- who says the U.S. has a moral obligation to help Iraqis -- said the process is "getting faster and will get a lot faster as the year progresses."
Congress has criticized the slow pace of resettling Iraqi refugees. Only 1,608 Iraqi refugees came into the U.S. in the previous fiscal year, the State Department has said. The target was 7,000.
The IRC said the Bush administration's goal of resettling 12,000 Iraqis in the U.S. this year is "extremely meager" compared with those granted asylum from other war-torn regions -- such as Vietnam and the Balkans -- and from religious minorities, such as Russian Jews during the Cold War.
The commission, all of whose members hail from the United States, includes Morton Abramowitz, a former assistant secretary of state and ambassador to Turkey and Thailand; Jean Kennedy Smith, former ambassador to Ireland; and James Wolfensohn, former president of the World Bank.
Process but no peace . . .
- Details
- Written by GUSH SHALOM AD GUSH SHALOM AD
- Published: 27 March 2008 27 March 2008
- Hits: 4099 4099
National Unity Government
Comes into being,
We shall stop negotiations
At once!"
The Olmert-Barak government
Warned this week.
A strange announcement -
For if one wants peace,
One must be interested
In speaking with
The entire Palestinian people.
But Olmert & Barak
Are not interested in peace
But only in a
"Peace process" -
A show for Israelis and
World public opinion.
US warns Palestinian Americans of delays in Israel
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- Written by Reuters, Israel News Reuters, Israel News
- Published: 27 March 2008 27 March 2008
- Hits: 4733 4733
[This is a form of cultural ethnic cleansing: break up the ties of family and friends and further isolate Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza, making their lives even more miserable in the hopes that they will leave -Editor]
State Department says Israeli authorities may question US Palestinians
on arrival in Jewish state, require them to obtain PA travel
documents. US Arab groups: Bush administration saying in effect that
Arab Americans are second-class citizens
Reuters
Israeli authorities may question Palestinian Americans on arrival in
Israel and require them to obtain a Palestinian Authority travel
documents, the US State Department said on Wednesday.
The comments drew quick criticism from an Arab American group that
argued the Bush administration was acquiescing in Israel's treatment
of Palestinian Americans as second-class US citizens.
"American citizens whom Israeli authorities judge may be of
Palestinian origin are likely to face additional, and often time
consuming, questioning by immigration and border authorities,"
the State Department said in a "travel warning" to US citizens.
Read more: US warns Palestinian Americans of delays in Israel
KBOO 90.7FM, Interview with Paul Larudee on One Land, Many Voices
- Details
- Written by Will Seaman Will Seaman
- Published: 27 March 2008 27 March 2008
- Hits: 5051 5051
What: Interview with Paul Larudee about the FREE GAZA MOVEMENT
When: Friday, March 28, 2008
Time: 9:00AM
Where: KBOO 90.7FM on your radio dial
Dear friends of One Land, Many Voices,
Please tune in this
Friday morning from 9:00AM to 10AM to KBOO Community Radio for a
special edition of ONE LAND, MANY VOICES. We'll have special guest,
Paul Larudee, talking about the FREE GAZA MOVEMENT (Paul is also
speaking at Reed College Friday evening) AND we'll have special
guest-host, Sa'ed Bannoura, joining William Seaman for this membership
drive broadcast. (Hala is traveling abroad but will be back next
month!). Sa'ed is a Palestinian journalist who has reported for the
International Middle East Media Center and for Free Speech Radio News.
(Details on Paul Larudee are appended below).
If you want to
support public affairs programming dedicated to reporting on Palestine,
PLEASE tune in this Friday at 9:00AM ... tune in AND renew your
membership in grassroots, democratic, community radio, KBOO 90.7FM in
Portland, 100.7 FM in Corvallis, and 91.9 FM in the Columbia Gorge!
Read more: KBOO 90.7FM, Interview with Paul Larudee on One Land, Many Voices