Life in the ghettos: closed checkpoints, iron gates and surveillance cameras
Latest News, Palestinian Grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign, August 13th, 2006
The policies of the Occupation are showing ever clearer in the ghettos carved out by the Apartheid Wall; mechanisms of control are the future for these ghettos. An ever-increasing number of checkpoints, iron gates, watch towers and surveillance cameras will dictate every Palestinian move and activity.
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| Above: Zatara checkpoint in south of Nablus. |
Three weeks ago, the Occupation Forces put a closure on the Palestinian villages and cities in the northern districts of the West Bank which is still in effect. At the checkpoints, Palestinians have been prohibited from entering or leaving Jenin, Tulkarem, Qalqiliya and Nablus. All the checkpoints at the entrances of the cities have been closed and dozens of movable checkpoints have been put up on the roads and crossroads. The Occupation has also closed Za’tara terminal, isolating the north of the West Bank from the center and the south.
The Occupation has erected a military gate on the road from Nablus to Tulkarem. The gate is located west of Deir Sharaf village and Nablus city and cuts the main road between Nablus and Tulkarem. This will make daily life even more difficult and trade even more arduous.
In the Salfit district, the iron gates installed at the entrances of Kifl Hares, Jama’in, Marda and Brukin have been closed, imprisoning the people within their villages. Most of the villagers have been unable to reach their work and go ahead with their daily live.
To complement the checkpoints and gates and to ensure racist totalitarian control over all movement even within the closed ghettos, the Occupation forces are rapidly constructing watch-towers and installing surveillance cameras.
A watch-tower west of ar Raba village, south of Jenin, is now completed. Built on a mountain located between ar Raba and Fahma refugee camp, the tower allows the Occupation to control all movement on the main road from Jenin to Tulkarem. It will further serve to back up the flying checkpoint at the western entrance of ar Raba.
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| Above: The sniper tower on the northern enter of Hebron city. |
In the Hebron district, the watch-tower controlling the northern entrance to Hebron city has been equipped with surveillance cameras. The tower overlooks the Palestinian road from Hebron to Bethlehem and the settlers’ road that connects the Zionist colonies in Hebron to Jerusalem. To make things worse, a checkpoint has been placed on the Palestinian road forcing people to endure long and humiliating procedures.
The complete Orwellian control within the ghettos whose outer boundaries are to be shaped by the Apartheid Wall makes life in the West Bank synonymous with life in prison.
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