January 2001, Summary
B'Tselem Publishes New Report: "Civilians Under Siege: Restrictions on Freedom of Movement as Collective Punishment"
Since the beginning of the recent uprising on 29 September 2000, Israel has placed a series of sweeping restrictions on movement of the Palestinian population in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. These restrictions severely impair the right to work and earn a living, the right to proper medical treatment, the right to education, and the right to maintain family life. Israel's restrictions on freedom of movement disrupt all aspects of daily life for some three million people. This policy is one of the primary reasons for the increasing destitution and despair in the Occupied Territories and has made the lives of the population unbearable.
Israel uses three primary forms of punishment:
- Total closure: Israel imposed a sweeping prohibition on entry into Israel for any purpose; the safe passage between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip is closed; the international border crossings (Rafiah border crossing, the Palestinian airport in Rafiah and the Allenby bridge) have been closed intermittently.
- Internal closure: A siege, enforced through road blocks, prevents entry and exit from areas, towns and villages. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are under siege: they do not receive shipments of basic supplies, and they cannot leave their communities, even to travel to neighboring areas for medical care, or to go to work or school.
- Curfew: The most sweeping and extreme restriction on movement imposed on Palestinians in the Occupied Territories, curfew imprisons an entire population in their homes. For example, Palestinians in the H2 area of Hebron have been under curfew almost continuously for three months. The curfew is imposed for the convenience of settlers in the area, and of course does not apply to them.
The report concludes that the character and timing of Israel's restrictions on freedom of movement challenge the contention that these restrictions are dictated purely by security considerations: Israel imposes a sweeping closure, curfew and siege on millions of people rather than on individuals who pose a security threat. In many cases, Israel imposes restrictions "in response" to Palestinian attacks on Israeli civilians or soldiers, with no connection between the type of restrictions imposed and their effectiveness in preventing similar attacks in the future. The decision to ease restrictions on movement is usually taken as a "gesture" in the context of political developments, frequently with no connection to the security threat which ostensibly justified the restrictions.
In addition, Israel's policy of restrictions on movement is based on blatant discrimination between the two populations living in the Occupied Territories - Palestinians and Jews - solely on the basis of nationality. The restrictions are imposed exclusively on the Palestinian population. Furthermore, in many cases, the explicit aim of the restrictions is to ensure freedom of movement for the Jewish settler population at the expense of the growing desperation of the local population.
A recent testimony is attached which illustrates the human suffering caused by the months of siege.