wfn.org | Not Getting Home for the Holidays in Palestine

[JerusalemRelOrgs@aol.com]

By Daoud Kuttab

Contact:  Palestinian Journalists Syndicate
PO Box 219
Ramallah, West Bank, via Israel
Tel:  972-2-626.2479  or 972-2-295.2843

or
Thania TV Productions
Daoud Kuttab, director
PO Box 3523
Jerusalem
Tel: 972-2-295.9237
Email: dkuttab@alquds.net
 

BETHLEHEM, December 28--There is no date in any calendar year that is more 
important for family get togethers than the holidays.  This year both 
Christmas and Id al-Fitr [the feast at the end of the Muslim fasting month of 
Ramadan] fell on almost identical dates. 
 
This year is perhaps the worst facing Palestinian families in decades: The 
multi-layered Israeli siege on Palestinian territories has forced various 
members of the same family to celebrate alone. 
 
Palestinians like to spend the holidays visiting the grave sites of deceased 
family members, visiting prisoners, and of course large families like 
getting together, often at the home of their parents.  Let me detail some of 
the obstacles facing Palestinians this particular holiday season. 
 
First, there is absolutely no direct connection between Gaza and the West 
Bank.  For families with a son or daughter living in either location, the 
idea of having a Christmas meal together or enjoying an Id get-together is 
impossible.  Not only is the safe-passage road closed, but the regular 
crossing at the Erez checkpoint is also off limits to Palestinians whether 
going in or out of Gaza. 

True, the airport is open.  So theoretically one can fly from Gaza's 
international airport to Jordan and then attempt to cross into the West Bank 
from Jordan.  But unless one's destination is Jericho, getting to any other 
West Bank city is another story. 

Connections between the West Bank and Jordan, where intermarriage is common, 
are severely restricted, even though the King Hussein bridge is 
theoretically open.  For West Bank Palestinians to cross the bridge they have 
to ride the only bus given access to the terminal point, which leaves and 
returns to the Istiraha ("resting place") in Jericho.  The trick is to get to 
this bus depot which is within area "A," under full Palestinian control. 
 
All main roads to Jericho are sealed by soldiers.  So for a vehicle to enter 
the city in order to deposit or collect stranded passengers, only side dirt 
roads can be used.  And it is precisely these side roads that the Israeli 
Army has been systematically closing, either by piling up mountains of dirt 
(which are quickly removed) or their latest trick of digging deep trenches 
(which are harder to deal with). 

The recent rains have made many of these side roads much more difficult to 
navigate.  Trails of jammed taxis can be seen on many of these roads. Of 
course, if cars can't move, people can walk, and that is what many have had 
to do, sometimes walking three or four kilometers just to reach the nearest 
paved road in the hope of getting a ride to safety. 

Jerusalem residents, who don't have to use the Istiraha and can travel the 
Israeli-built bypass road, have a new, much more difficult obstacle.  They 
need permits to cross.  The Israeli Interior Ministry issues the permits.  
But since employees of the ministry have been on strike for two months, 
demanding better wages, there is no one to issue the permits.  And so, 
although Palestinians from Jerusalem can safely reach the Israeli terminal at 
the bridge, they can't leave because they don't possess the dreaded exit 
pass. 

For families of prisoners, there is also a Catch-22 .  The Israeli Prisons 
Service says that regular visits can take place.   But to get to the prisons 
which are all inside Israel, Palestinians need permits to enter Israel.  And 
since the West Bank and Gaza are under siege, no such permits are being 
issued.  Even the traditional release of a few prisoners in honor of the 
holidays doesn't seem to be a consideration this season. 
 
Travel between cities has also been curtailed.  Huge cement blocks, 
mountains, dirt, or deep trenches are used to close off which ever arteries 
the Israeli soldiers are unwilling to man. 

Animals are back in fashion as an effective way of transporting people and 
their belongings out of besieged areas. So with the exception of the Erez 
crossing and the international borders, Palestinians wishing to get from one 
place to another can eventually find a way. 
 
For Gazan students in the West Bank, or people with relatives in Jordan or 
Israel, the choice is to stay put or spend the holidays in student 
dormitories or with friends. 

If the aim of the Israeli blockade is to break the Palestinian spirit, the 
results have been a major failure.  The blockade is producing results and 
they are in human and emotional scars that will take a long time to heal. 

And if, on the eve of the current peace talks, the aim is to force 
Palestinians to accept unacceptable compromises, this blockade hasn't had 
much of an effect on Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat, who is 
free to travel by air. 

But if anything, this inhuman blockade has served to strengthen Palestinian 
unity and despite all odds, it has increased hopes for a better future. 
 
Happy New Year to all. 

___
Daoud Kuttab is a prominent Christian journalist from Palestine, whose 
reports and op-ed essays appear in publications throughout the world.