Jump to content

Israeli checkpoint: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Content deleted Content added
→‎IDF efforts: crossing joins
Lapsed Pacifist (talk | contribs)
Line 6: Line 6:
IDF checkpoints may be manned by the [[Israeli Military Police]], who perform security checks on Palestinians, the [[Israel Border Police]], and / or other soldiers.
IDF checkpoints may be manned by the [[Israeli Military Police]], who perform security checks on Palestinians, the [[Israel Border Police]], and / or other soldiers.


==IDF efforts==
==IDF viewpoint==
[[Image:West Bank checkpoint by David Shankbone.jpg|thumb|[[West Bank]] checkpoint tower]]
[[Image:West Bank checkpoint by David Shankbone.jpg|thumb|[[West Bank]] checkpoint tower]]



Revision as of 22:44, 16 August 2009

An Israel Border Police checkpoint at Jericho's southern entrance, 2005
Israeli checkpoint outside the Palestinian city of Ramallah

A Israel Defense Forces checkpoint, usually called an Israeli checkpoint (Hebrew: מחסום, machsom, Arabic: حاجز, hajez), is a barrier erected by the Israel Defense Forces with the stated aim of enhancing the security of Israel and Israeli settlements and preventing those who wish to do harm from crossing. Most of the checkpoints in the West Bank are not located on the boundary between Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory, but rather throughout the West Bank.[1]

IDF checkpoints may be manned by the Israeli Military Police, who perform security checks on Palestinians, the Israel Border Police, and / or other soldiers.

IDF viewpoint

West Bank checkpoint tower

According to program director Col. Triber Bezalel, the IDF employs "humanitarian officers" at various checkpoints:

"[to] provide an understanding, helping hand to the Palestinians. Their job is to make life easier for those who cross the borders. To assist women who are holding babies and children, aid the elderly and sick and provide an open ear to Palestinian professionals who have special problems. These are Israel's ambassadors to our Palestinian neighbors and they perform brilliantly".[2]

The IDF has stated that during 2008, it has removed the crossing joins, 140 roadblocks and eight central checkpoints "in an effort to improve freedom of movement for the civilian Palestinian population in Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley". [3]

Criticism

Unmanned roadblock between Palestinian towns

Many Palestinians, especially residents of the West Bank, claim that despite the checkpoints' intended use, in practice they violate Palestinians' rights to transportation and other human rights. Palestinian complaints of abuse and humiliation are common: Israel Defense Forces' Judge Advocate General, Maj. Gen. Dr. Menachem Finkelstein, states that "there were many - too many - complaints that soldiers manning checkpoints abuse and humiliate Palestinians and that the large number of complaints 'lit a red light' for him".[4]

The United Nations, in its February 2009 Humanitarian Monitor report, has stated that it is becoming "apparent" that the checkpoint and obstacles, which Israeli authorities justified from the beginning of the second Intifada (September 2000) as a temporary military response to violent confrontations and attacks on Israeli civilians, is evolving into "a more permanent system of control" that is steadily reducing the space available for Palestinian growth and movement for the benefit of the increasing Israeli settler population.[5]

Ambulance controversy

Unmanned roadblock in the West Bank

Since a 2002 incident where explosives were found in a Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance,[6] medical vehicles have not been immune to searches. Some checkpoints between Palestinian towns in the West Bank require permits for Palestinians to cross them and exceptions are not always made for medical emergencies. Between 2000 and 2006, 68 Palestinian women gave birth at Israeli checkpoints, 5 of whom died and 35 miscarried.[7] In contrast, a certain and small number of Palestinian diplomats and individuals are given 'VIP' cards by the Israeli army that effectively allow the carriers free passage through checkpoints.

Flying checkpoints

According to the Applied Research Institute Jerusalem (ARIJ), the Israeli military established 121 flying checkpoints in the West Bank and East Jerusalem between October 2006 until April 2007.[8] Most of the flying checkpoints are located in the northern part of the West Bank; in particular, the Nablus, Tubas and Jenin governorates.[8]

Palestinians attempting to cross flying checkpoints can wait anywhere between 20 and 90 minutes, and in some cases, longer.[8]

Medical vehicles are often stopped and searched by Israeli soldiers at flying checkpoints. For example, in March 2002, an explosive device was found in a Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) ambulance. The Red Crescent expressed shock at the incident, and began an internal investigation.[6] On January 11, 2004, a PRCS ambulance not carrying patients was stopped and searched at a flying checkpoint near the village of Jit. The ambulance was escorted by military jeep to the Qadomin bus station where after 10 minutes the ambulance crew got their IDs back and were allowed to continue working. In another case, on the same day, an ambulance transporting a diabetic patient to the hospital in Tulkarm was stopped, searched, and allowed to proceed after the companion of the patient was arrested.[9]

Unmanned roadblocks set up by the IDF which usually consist of concrete blocks preventing vehicular traffic are sometimes also referred to as checkpoints.[citation needed]

List of checkpoints

See also

References

  1. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/middle_east/03/v3_israel_palestinians/maps/html/settlements_checkpoints.stm
  2. ^ Leyden, Joel (30 Jan 2004). "Israel Sends IDF Humanitarian Officers to Front Lines". Jerusalem Post. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  3. ^ http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1245184855877&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull
  4. ^ [1]
  5. ^ "The Humanitarian Monitor, Number 34, February 2009". UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. 2009-02-01. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-04-06. Retrieved 2009-04-06.
  6. ^ a b Harel, Amos. "Bomb Found in Red Crescent Ambulance". Haaretz. Retrieved 2008-11-27. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7612887.stm
  8. ^ a b c "Israel, An Alleged State of Democracy". Applied Research Institute Jerusalem (ARIJ). 25 April 2007. Retrieved 05.12.2007. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  9. ^ "OCHA Humanitarian Update: Occupied Palestinian Territories". United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). 16 Dec 2003 - 19 Jan 2004. Retrieved 05.12.2007. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  10. ^ About Us Machsom Watch website
  11. ^ Grandmothers on Guard Mother Jones, November/December 2004