In the great tradition of human rights abuses inflicted upon Palestinians since 1948, history is familiarly repeating itself in Bethlehem. Erez 2, the fetal brother of the Erez checkpoint in Gaza, is currently developing arms, legs and a below ground-level roadway necessary for secluding from view the very people it offends and oppresses. The year 2000 will kick off, not only with gala celebrations and fireworks, but with an Israeli economic squeeze, a militaristic stranglehold on Palestinian mobility and a good hearty laugh at what is called the peace process. In short, what happened once is happening again. Funny, no one seems surprised, least of all the Palestinians.
The Bethlehem checkpoint, currently under reconstruction, deserves scrupulous examination in terms of its socioeconomic implications for Bethlehem and her residents. Once implemented, this security zone nicknamed Erez 2 (the name given to the checkpoint by Palestinians, in reference to the Erez checkpoint in Gaza) can be expected to result in: economic erosion of Bethlehem's economy (based on intensified exclusion from the job market and trade commerce of Israel), increased hindrance to Palestinian mobility, additional Palestinian land confiscation, and restrictions regarding freedom of worship based on decreased access to religious sites within Jerusalem.
It is necessary to first describe the progress of construction for the Bethlehem checkpoint, secondly, the potential effects this development may have on Bethlehem, thirdly, consequences for Bethlehem residents, and finally, implications regarding the freedom of worship. Until recently, construction on Erez 2 was moving along at a languid pace. Although speculation and rumors regarding the project circulated widely, the only evidence of implementation was the construction of a parking lot, designed to hold up to 700 Palestinian automobiles restricted from entry into Jerusalem. However, during the course of the last several months, the pace has escalated, with re-fortifications and additions to "security walls" surrounding Rachel's Tomb and preliminary construction on a receptacle road, which will serve as a drop-off and pickup point for Palestinians entering Jerusalem.
The implementation of Erez 2 would have disastrous consequences for both Bethlehem and her residents. According to plans, the checkpoint would include two security stations (similar to Gaza), one for tourists, VIPs, and settlers, and one for Palestinians, holding valid Jerusalem permits/ID cards. While tourists, VIPs, and settlers will continue to use the existing checkpoint located on the Hebron Road, Palestinians will follow an alternate path, which will lead them to a separate checkpoint and a 650 meter walking path. This new checkpoint would effectively isolate Bethlehem from Jerusalem, starving the local economy and exacerbating the already tenuous status of Bethlehemites in terms of their civil rights (such as freedom of movement) and quality of life.
With regards to economic concerns, the Bethlehem checkpoint will further quarantine Bethlehem residents and businesses from Jerusalem, a city they depend on for employment and commerce. Since Israel implemented military closure around the Jerusalem municipality in March, 1993, under the Oslo accords, neighboring Bethlehem has suffered a marked increase in unemployment and a decline in personal income. According to World Bank figures, unemployment among Bethlehemites rose 18% and per capita income decreased by approximately 20% since the 1993 closure. As Erez 2 intensifies the degree of separation between Bethlehem residents and Jerusalem, it stands to reason that further individual and commercial economic deterioration will follow. In addition, Bethlehem depends upon Israel for trade, in terms of importing/exporting goods and services. According to Badil Resource Center, 85% of Bethlehem's imports and exports are with Israel. With a heightened state of "security" (i.e. more soldiers, inspections, etc.), including the inevitable transportation difficulties (traffic, delays for security inspections, etc.), Palestinian workers, entrepreneurs, and businesses will undoubtedly suffer from the effects of reduced commercial mobility, employment difficulties, and decreased capital for local development/investment.
In addition, the geographical isolation of Bethlehem, resulting from Erez 2, will further restrict Palestinian freedom of movement and inevitably involve the confiscation of additional Palestinian land. Based on schematics for construction and Israeli security policy employed at Erez I (Gaza), Palestinians, once separated from tourists, settlers, and VIPs, will enter into a laborious series of inspections and waiting, before being granted access through the checkpoint. Basing traveler separation and varying degrees of service upon racial/ethnic grounds is tantamount to apartheid. Upon limited inspection of the construction sight, planned Palestinian exclusion is already evident, as a receptacle road is currently under development. This passage and the corresponding walking path will be conveniently out of sight, built below the existing checkpoint and road leading into Bethlehem. Similarly, in Gaza, walls were built to conceal the processional of thousands of Palestinian laborers travelling to/returning from work in Israel. In fact, the walking path in Bethlehem will actually be longer (650 meters) than its Gazan counterpart (600 meters). Such limitations on individual freedom of movement is contrary to international law, as enunciated by Article 13 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states, "Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence in any State."
Further, the expansion of the Jerusalem boundaries under Erez 2 plans, will entail the confiscation of additional land from Palestinian Bethlehemites. According to estimates by al-Ayyam, an Arabic newspaper, Israel will expropriate roughly 4,500 dunums (one dunum = one quarter acre) of Bethlehem in the implementation of the checkpoint. During previous territorial aggrandizement by the Jerusalem municipality, Bethlehem lost approximately 9,000 dunums of land (7,000 in 1976 and 2,000 in 1996) (Brubacher, Challenge, No. 57, p.7). Again, Israel, in employing a policy of land confiscation, is in clear violation of international law, specifically with regards to Article 17 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which reads, "Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property."
Article 18 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. reads, "Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion … and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance." The opening of Erez 2 will directly violate international law, as it grossly impairs access to religious sites within Jerusalem among Palestinian Christians and Muslims. Imagine you are a Palestinian Christian planning to worship at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre or a Palestinian Muslim going to pray at Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. If you are fortunate enough to secure the ever-illusive, Israeli-issued, travel permit, you depart your home in Bethlehem for the checkpoint. Upon arrival, as a Palestinian, you are forced to park your car or vacate your taxi. You then traverse the 650 meter walking path. Then you wait. Despite the heat, despite the cold, despite the rain or the condition of your health, you wait. Intent on exercising your right to worship in Jerusalem, you endure this delay, all the while watching the road above as tourists, and settlers pass expediently through, expediency that is a direct result of your present condition. At the end of this processional, you are confronted by the Israeli Defense Forces, at a checkpoint designed specifically for you (for Palestinians). Procuring your travel documents, answering numerous questions regarding the purpose of your visit to Jerusalem, enduring searches of your person, you are finally granted access…or not, depending upon the discretion of the inspecting officer. As "Erez 2," under its re-enforcement and reconstruction, is not currently operating, it is impossible to determine the time involved in this process. However, its Gazan counterpart generally requires suffering between 2-3 hours of delay from the time Palestinians are dropped off until they reach taxis waiting on the other side. Muslim or Christian, these apartheid-like measures are not divided down religious lines, rather Palestinians suffer because they are Palestinians.
Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center believes we are called to solidarity in suffering with, and care for, one another, when human beings are assaulted. In the case of Erez 2, the limitations placed on religious expression, necessitate a response from the religious community at large, locally and internationally, in defending the oppressed among our larger family. For we are truly members of the same body and suffer collectively as 1 Corinthians 12:24-27 states, "But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it." Consequently, as advocates of the larger ecumenical community, it is our mandate to protect freedom of religion for all those who seek fellowship with God.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides the framework for a system free from occupation, free from checkpoints, and thus, free from the limitations of freedom of religion. Sabeel calls upon the international community to oppose measures such as the Erez 2 checkpoint, which defies specific rulings of international law and the spirit of peace with justice.
This report by Samuel Jones appears in the Winter 99 edition (issue 17) of Sabeel's newsletter, Cornerstone. He is currently serving as a Peace and Justice Intern at Sabeel for the Presbyterian Church (USA).
© Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center
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