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What closure is really all about
by
Gila Svirsky
If you ever had any
doubt about why Israel imposes a "closure" (in
effect, a siege) on Palestinian towns and
villages, you should have been with us today.
It would have become clear.
We were a group of 30
activists, Israelis and internationals, in an
action co-sponsored by the Coalition of Women
for a Just Peace, Rabbis for Human
Rights, Gush Shalom, and Ta'ayush. We came at the invitation
of the residents of Hares, a small Palestinian
town in the West Bank.
Last week, a settler claimed
that gunshots had been fired from fields near
Hares. Although the villagers denied that shots were fired,
and nobody was hurt,
the army immediately tightened the closure on three adjoining
villages -- Hares, Kif al-Hares, and Dir Istya. You recall
the big mounds of
earth and/or deep trenches created by the Israeli army on Palestinian
access roads to prevent cars from entering or leaving their
villages? Well, ever
since the alleged shooting, the ante was raised: The 8,000
residents of these 3 villages are no
longer allowed to enter or leave their villages
even on foot. And to add to the problems, the settlers from
nearby Ariel attacked
one of the villages and cut their water and telephone lines.
This is an
ongoing harassment campaign conducted with impunity by Ariel
settlers against these three villages.
But that's only part of it.
We reached Hares after
negotiating some side roads and then climbing a
hill on foot that leads to the village. At
the top, we found many Palestinians
awaiting us. One made a speech welcoming us and appreciating
our solidarity. In contrast, he said,
"Your government sows hatred". He also
apologized that they could not offer us refreshments, but the
closure prevented fresh produce from being
brought into the village. Then he took
us on the tour of the 3 villages.
The Israeli government claims
that closure is a matter of security: Closure,
they say, is imposed to prevent Palestinian terrorists from
getting out of their villages, and so
prevent their entry into Israel. Yes, says
the Israeli government, it's unfortunate that the general
population has to
suffer for the bad conduct of just a few of its members, but security is
a priority, and we cannot afford to take
chances.
So this may interest you:
The army gouged out two big ditches between Kif
al-Hares and Dir Istya, thereby preventing the residents of one
village from driving
into the other. But this is an internal road -- it connects
only the 3 villages, and gives no access
to Israeli settlements whatsoever! In
short, this closure, as in so many locations, serves no security
purpose whatsoever. It merely prevents
Palestinians from having access to each other --
and to jobs, schools, medical treatment, and food.
But why should Israel
want to impose such constraints? The answer is
that the closure in the territories is
not primarily related to security, but to
power. Closure is fundamentally the arbitrary exercise of
power for the purpose of asserting control.
To assert control over a hostile population,
what is required is intimidation, and intimidation is the heart of
the occupation. Intimidation is crucial
for maintaining a violent and oppressive system.
Our group stayed long enough
to fill in about half of one of the ditches,
working side by side with the villagers, using spades, hoes,
pick-axes, and our
bare hands. But it was quite late, we had to leave, and a
Palestinian-driven bulldozer was on its way in to finish the job.
I hope the road
remains level for as long as possible, but there are no
guarantees. Occupation also instills the
understanding that the next arbitrary measure
is only around the corner.
Source:
by courtesy & © 2001 Gila Svirsky
by the same
author:
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