Israel To Close Jerusalem Checkpoint

The Israeli Defense Ministry is going to close a central checkpoint near Jerusalem, making it harder for 65,000 nearby refugee camp residents to enter Israel.

A spokesman for the ministry confirmed to Xinhua that the ministry is proceeding with its resolution to seal the Ras Hamis checkpoint from 2008, but did not provide further details as to when and how it would take place.

The checkpoint serves residents of the northeast Shoafat refugee camp, banding together four Palestinian villages, located in northeast Jerusalem. It serves 15,000 Palestinians daily.

Israel annexed east Jerusalem neighborhoods after the 1967 war. The neighborhoods are still within the city’s municipality and its residents hold Israeli (blue) ID cards.

Although the Shoafat refugee camp is part of the municipality, in reality it is cut off from the city by the separation barrier surrounding it from three sides.

Israel started erecting the barrier a decade ago, with walls and fences snaking through the area and separating Israeli territory from the West Bank, for security reasons following the 2000’s terror wave. However, Palestinians and left-wing activists charge that it is means of grabbing Palestinian land.

The ministry first decided to close the crossing four years ago, in order to seal the separation barrier. Residents petitioned the decision back then to the Supreme Court with the help of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI).

The petition stated that closing the checkpoint and diverting the pedestrians to the central Shoafat checkpoint 350 meters away, which already serves 50,000 Palestinians a day, would be “harsh and un-proportional blow” to the residents.

“The act results in damaging the residents’ rights to earn a living, receive medical care, go to school, pray in holy places and visit relatives,” Att. Michal Pomerentz from the ACRI wrote on behalf of the residents.

The court ruled that the state must provide a proper alternative before shutting down Ras Hamis checkpoint. It ordered that the Shoafat checkpoint should be enhanced with eight more passages to pedestrians and four additional crossings for cars, to be open 24 hours a day.

However, police sources told the Ha’aretz daily that the ministry had in fact start to dismantle equipment such as security cameras at Ras Hamis in the last few days, in order to shut it down by next week.

Jamil Sanduqa, head of the refugee camp’s residents’ committee told Ha’aretz that no groundwork was made in order to follow the court’s ruling.

“They were meant to build additional lanes for cars and a few for pedestrians,” he said. “But they haven’t done any groundwork for it. Now our children are starting school. You know how crowded it will be here? As it is they’re choking us.”

Following the recent developments, the ACRI wrote to the Public Security Minister Yithzak Aharonovich, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Civil Administration officials, demanding the move not be made without meeting the requirements set by the Supreme Court.

The Defense Ministry said in response that the Ras Hamis crossing was a very small checkpoint that was a temporary checkpoint from the start, and that Ras Hamis residents will soon be moving to use the Shoafat crossing, which has been rebuilt to a high standard so it can handle thousands of residents.

“At the Shoafat crossing, which is only 350 meters from the Ras Khamis crossing, more than 5,000 people pass through during peak hours (between 6-8 a.m.) and (the central crossing) will able to absorb more without unusual pressure. The issue meets the guidelines of the High Court of Justice and has been implemented in coordination with ACRI and the courts.”

Xinhuanet