RAMALLAH, Mar. 14, 01 (CWNews.com) - At 1 AM on Wednesday, March 7, the Israel Defense Force dug a trench and installed a blockade from the village of Surda, near Ramallah, to the town of Birzeit. The trench is six feet deep and 165 yards long. Its effect is to deny vehicular access to and from 25 villages, with a combined population of 65,000. Not only does this blockade prevent medical supplies and food deliveries from reaching their destination, but the damage done to water pipes and telephone cables in the digging process has deprived many local residents of communication and cleaning facilities. Abouna Iyad Twal, a Catholic priest in Birzeit, expressed the widespread sense of despair in his community: "This is the first day Ariel Sharon is in power. God help the souls of people in the days to come." The Society of St. Yves (a Catholic human-rights center) is planning to appeal to the Israeli High Court against the measures.
The blockade will also have an adverse effect on education. Birzeit is home to the most renowned university in the Palestinian territories, with 5,000 students from all over the Arab world, as well as many from Europe and America. Amongst its best-known associates is the spokesman Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, who once headed the English department. But now access to the university has been denied, and there are serious concerns that the new term--scheduled to begin on March 17--will have to be postponed.
Palestinians argue that the latest measures are unjustified. Dr Albert Aghazarian, director of the public relations office at Birzeit University, claimed:
There have been no recent clashes or demonstrations in the area. Furthermore, there have been no shootings reported--from any of the 25 villages--at Israeli soldiers or settlers. There are no genuine security or military reasons for taking these measures. The total siege is being imposed by the Israeli government as a repressive form of collective punishment, which is prohibited by international humanitarian law.
The blockade is also inconsistent with the Israel government's promise to make the Palestinian National Army, not Palestinian civilians, the focus of any military activities.
Israelis insist that such measures must be taken in order to protect Israeli security. According to a government spokesman, "There have been five months of unmitigated Palestinian violence, and we have to take measures against that as any country would." The Birzeit- Ramallah road, on which the blockade has been installed, is used by Jewish settlers living in land annexed by Israel in the 1967 war. The Israeli government is determined to protect the settlers. "The roads are being used by Palestinians to take pot shots," said the spokesman. "Does that mean a settler is a free target?" There is also speculation that the blockade is a response to a bomb in the coastal town of Netanya which killed four Israeli civilians on March 4. The militant Palestinian party, Hamas, claimed responsibility for that bombing. According to the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz , the trenches are intended to contain "terror units" of Hamas based in Ramallah.
The explicit isolation of Birzeit, a town which to date has been uninvolved in the latest outbreak of the intifada, has far-reaching implications. Birzeit has long been regarded by right-wing Israelis and their supporters as a potential fifth column. According to David Parsons, of the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem, "Birzeit is a hotbed of Islamic fundamentalism." When French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin visited the Birzeit University last February, he was stoned by students angered by his criticism of the Lebanese-based paramilitary organisation Hezbollah. Indeed, such is Israeli concern that a full-time Mossad agent is believed to operate on the campus.
A closer look at the university reveals a variety of student opinions, typical of the undergraduate experience. Yusef Habash, president of the university's Liberal faction, advocated economic and diplomatic tactics rather than car bombs and gunfights. Mohammed Hassouna, of the Fatah faction, insisted on the enforcement of international laws such as United Nations Security Council Resolution 242, which demands Israeli withdrawal from the occupied territories. Hassouna accepted the right of Israel to exist within its 1948 boundaries. In contrast, a student who identified himself only as Abdullah, representing the university's Hamas faction, said he hoped for the "liberation" of Palestine "from north to south, from river to sea."
Birzeit students are different in one important respect from other students: they have endured the repeated disruption of their education, which have forced many of them to leave without a degree. This pattern of disruption prevents the brightest Palestinian potential from being fulfilled. Yusef, an engineering student who is now in the fourth year of what should have been a two-year program, explained: "The situation here is always bad. The intifada has just made it worse." The university has been closed on a recurrent basis since its inception in 1975, and roadblocks have prevented access to Ramallah just as frequently. During the "Oslo years" in which the peace process was supposedly in place, the university was still affected. In 1996, six weeks of the academic calendar were rescheduled as a result of punitive closures due to suicide attacks in Jerusalem and Birzeit. That year, Israel arrested 280 Birzeit students--10 percent of the student body--on the grounds that they were "deeply involved in terrorist attacks, financing and supporting people from Hamas and Islamic Jihad and the military wing of the Popular Front."
The current blockade may prevent students from reaching lectures, but history shows that they can be resourceful. During the original intifada (1987-93), the university was closed for more than four years. But underground study groups continued to operate out of homes, mosques, and churches. Many students took up to 10 years to complete four-year degree courses.
The Israeli measures may well backfire. Up until the time when the blockade was set up, Birzeit had been unusually passive. Now the students may feel compelled to vent their frustration in demonstrations and riots. Moreover, these students are the potential Palestinian leaders of tomorrow--who, if peace continues to prove elusive, will eventually be negotiating with Israel. By taking away their right to education, the Israeli authorities are fostering hardened ideologies and destroying the will to compromise.
The Palestinians have also become increasingly inventive in discovering side roads and alternative routes to reach their destinations. But only a minority are privy to such knowledge. The trenches, unlike manned checkpoints, exclude access on humanitarian grounds. Father Aktham Hijazin, whose village of Aboud has been cut off from Ramallah, observes: "Even ambulances have been forbidden entry."
Catholic World News - Feature
14. mars 2001