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8/8/2019 Physicians for Human Rights-Israel: Blocked - A Visit to the Villages of Salem, Deir Al Hatab and Azmut - February 2

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PHYSICIANS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS ISRAEL

BLOCKED

A Visit to the Villages of Salem, Deir al Hatab and Azmut

I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither.

(Deuteronomy XXXIV, 4)


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Report on a Visit to the Villages of Salem, Deir al Hatab and Azmut,

February 2, 2003

Written by: Miri Weingarten and Hadas Ziv

Research: Salah Haj-Yehya, Ibrahim Habib, Miri Weingarten

English translation: Shaul Vardi

The Respondents [the Minister of Defense, the Commander of the Judea and Samaria

Area, and the Commander of the Gaza Strip Area PHR] do not deny the fact that the

army has established physical roadblocks (by means of earth embankments or concrete

blocks) in the areas of Judea, Samaria and Gaza. According to current policy, they state,

there are no villages or areas (geographical cells, in the Respondents terms) to which

access is totally blocked by physical roadblocks. In each geographical cell, there is (or

at least, according to policy there should be) at least once access road not closed by a

physical roadblock.

(From the ruling in HCJ 9242/00, PHR-Israel v Minister of Defense et al.).

Background

In a High Court petition filed on December 18, 2000 (HCJ 9242/00), PHR-Israel

demanded that earth barriers be removed from routes in the occupied territories and the

policy of enclosure and physical roadblocks be ended, since this policy prevents the

implementation of the Israeli army regulations for passage of residents who arrive at a

checkpoint in a medical emergency (HCJ 3109/96). PHR-Israel argued that the existence

of physical roadblocks effectively prevents the possibility of permitting selective passage

for medical cases, and severely disrupts the functioning of the Palestinian health system.

The Court rejected the petition on the grounds that it was too general in nature. In

addition, High Court Justices Heshin, Zamir and Beinish accepted the States claim that

there was no single geographical cell that was entirely blocked by physical roadblocks

at least one access road was blocked by a staffed checkpoint, thereby permitting selective


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passage. The judges even recommended the proper way to confront the policy of

physical roadblocks: The Court believes that this is indeed the course the Appellant

should properly have taken, viz. to file individual complaints of specific cases in which

the procedures are not observed, and to enable the Respondents to clarify and process

such complaints.

Since the petition filed by PHR-Israel, other petitions have been filed relating to

individual cases, as a result of which roadblocks have been removed, only to be reinstated

after a brief period. The need to file such petitions in itself reflects the fact that physical

roadblocks are indeed used on a routine basis, contrary to the notification submitted tothe High Court by the security forces.

In recent months, field work by PHR-Israel reveals the existence of numerous enclaves

throughout the rural areas of the West Bank. The residents are trapped in an enclave

without any physical possibility of access by vehicle including by ambulance to

medical centers in the adjacent cities. The physical roadblocks are installed in addition to

staffed checkpoints. The techniques used to create roadblocks are varied concrete

blocks, high earth embankments, concrete walls, deep ditches, and ditches into which

sewage has been diverted, so that they cannot be crossed even on foot (see below). A

sick person who manages to cross sewage ditches and makeshift embankments on foot

may then encounter a couple of soldiers preventing access to the city. The same patient

cannot be evacuated by ambulance, since ambulances are unable to cross ditches of a

depth of 2-3 meters or climb embankments 5 meters high.

In such circumstances, the concept of emergency evacuation has become meaningless.

Even if the patient manages to cross the embankment or ditch and to meet the ambulance,

there is no guarantee that s/he will be able to obtain medical treatment. At best, the

ambulance may be permitted to pass through some of the countless checkpoints scattered


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throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip - but only after extensive delays.1

Israeli

security sources claim that these delays are due to the need to undertake strict security

checks. However, testimony received by PHR-Israel, as well as the personal experience

of the associations fieldworkers, reveal that in many cases ambulances wait for over

thirty minutes, and sometimes as long as one hour, before the security check is

undertaken.

A specific and factual petition describing a particular closed geographical cell, to use

the language of the security forces, may lead to the opening of a dirt track, where an

ambulance may possibly be allowed to pass. After more than two years of the policy of

physical roadblocks, however, it is more than time to realize that the only way to enable

the Palestinian health system to resume its function is to eliminate all these roadblocks

immediately. We hope that the case studies of the villages of Azmut, Deir al Hatab and

Salem will open the eyes of those who use security excuses as justification for the use of

roadblocks as a means of pressure on the Palestinian population for various purposes.

Azmut, Deir al Hatab and Salem:

One Example of the Physical Blockage of a Rural Enclave

Geographical background

The villages of Azmut, Deir al Hatab and Salem are situated to the east of Nablus, on

which they depend for health and education services, as well as for economic life and

employment. Road No. 57 passes through this area from the south to the north, lying

between the settlement of Elon Moreh to the east and Balata and Askar refugee camps to

the west, along with the city of Nablus. Before the current Intifada, the three villages

1Ms. Catherine Bertini, Personal Humanitarian Envoy of the UN Secretary-General, Mission

Report, 11-19 August 2002. In her recommendations, Bertini demands that Israel ensure that

the delay of ambulances at any checkpoint shall not exceed 30 minutes a delay that isdangerous to urgent cases. The report does not take into the account that an ambulance

traveling in the Occupied Territories is obliged to pass more than one checkpoint, as well as

traversing disrupted routes. The ICRC cites 15 minutes as the maximum delay for security

checks at a checkpoint, and also fails to relate to the wider context of the journey.


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were connected to Road No. 57 by three dirt tracks. The three villages themselves were

also connected by dirt tracks, one of which continued to the settlement of Elon Moreh,

which is in turn connected by a by-pass road to Road No. 57 to the south.

The adjacent villages of Salem and Deir al Hatab are situated opposite Balata refugee

camp. Azmut is situated further to the north, northeast of Askar refugee camp.

Staffed Checkpoints to the South and East of Nablus

Hawara checkpoint is situated approximately 10 km to the north of the village of

Hawara, and approximately 10 km south of Nablus, at the intersection of Road No. 57

and the by-pass road leading to the settlement of Elon Moreh to the northeast. The

checkpoint has two lanes, one for vehicles and one for pedestrians. Since there is a single

lane for those entering and leaving Nablus, those passing in each direction must wait in

turn. The edges of the lanes are lined with blocks and concrete divides, and the

pedestrian lane is fenced on either side. There are a large number of positions and

soldiers at the checkpoint, as well as various army vehicles. The checkpoint is

accompanied by constructed observation points. The checkpoint has the appearance of a

border crossing. For many months, private Palestinian vehicles have not been permitted

to cross the checkpoint. On the day of our visit, trucks carrying humanitarian equipment

were also prevented from passing, and pedestrians were only allowed to cross if they held

a permit from the Israeli Civil Administration. At the time we visited the checkpoint, a

line of some one hundred people were waiting in the hope that they would be permitted to

cross.

Awarta checkpoint is situated to the east of Hawara checkpoint, and to the north of the

village of Awarta, at the intersection of the by-pass road leading to Elon Moreh and the

dirt track leading from Awarta to the north, where it connects to Road No. 57. Here, too,

a narrow lane is lined with concrete divides. There are observation points and army

vehicles. During our time at the checkpoint, we saw a long line of some 30 trucks


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carrying humanitarian equipment waiting to be permitted to enter Nablus. In the opposite

direction, from north to south, there was a similar line. During our entire visit, we did not

see the lines move.

Bet Furik checkpoint is situated to the northeast of Awarta, and to the northwest of the

village of Bet Furik, at the intersection between the road leading from the village to

Nablus and the by-pass road leading to the settlement of Elon Moreh. The checkpoint is

situated on the western side of the by-pass road, and includes an army outpost,

approximately five soldiers and an iron gate. The road has been ripped up and destroyed

at this point, so that there is no possibility for private vehicles to cross. When trucks orfour-wheel drives vehicles are permitted to pass through the gate, the driver must open

and close it himself. Trucks carrying humanitarian equipment are only allowed to cross

if they hold permits; the same applies to pedestrians. On the day of our visit, we saw a

group of some twenty women sitting by the checkpoint. When we asked who they were,

they replied that they were students from the surrounding villages who had tried to travel

to An-Najah University in Nablus by passing round the checkpoints. After they were

caught, the soldiers at the checkpoint ordered them to wait for several hours. When we

asked the soldiers about the matter, they replied that the women were escapees

(Hebrew barkhaniyot).

Balata checkpoint is situated further along the road from Bet Furik to Nablus, on the

outskirts of Balata refugee camp. The road has been completely destroyed here, and has

been replaced by earth mounds; the area was full of mud on the day of our visit. The

checkpoint is staffed by several soldiers and has an iron gate similar to that at Bet Furik

checkpoint. While we were at the checkpoint, a soldier inspected a truck. He opened

each box separately, and when we left after fifteen minutes, he was still engaged in his

inspection. We also observed a father with his sick daughter painstakingly climbing the

earth mounds as they left the checkpoint.

Physical Roadblocks around the Villages


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To the north of Deir al Hatab, the sole road leading from the village to the settlement of

Elon Moreh is blocked; this is the only road connecting to the by-pass road that runs

southward to Road No. 57. In addition, the Israeli security forces have excavated two

ditches between Azmut and the villages of Deir al Hatab and Salim to the south. One

ditch is two meters deep and three meters wide. The other ditch is full of sewage water

diverted by the Israeli army from the city of Nablus in order to prevent pedestrians

crossing.

The by-pass road from the settlement of Elon Moreh to Road No. 57 passes to the east of

Deir al Hatab. There are no roads leading east from the villages toward the road; the landis rocky and cannot be crossed by private vehicles.

The by-pass road (which passes to the north, east and south of the villages) is situated to

the south of Salem. Parallel to the by-pass road, a ditch 2 meters deep and 3 meters wide

has been excavated through flat fields. Private vehicles cannot cross the ditch, which was

extremely muddy on the day of our visit. Earth mounds have also been piled along the

roadside, and an earth mound and rocks block the site of a former pedestrian path leading

from the road to the village of Salem. An IDF outpost overlooks the fields; the residents

report that the soldiers open fire on anyone who attempts to cross the area.

To the west of Deir al Hatab, Salem and Azmut, three trails connect to Road No. 57; all

have been blocked by earth embankments. In addition, a ditch 3 meters wide and 2

meters deep has been dug parallel to Road No. 57; here, too, the ditch cannot be crossed

by vehicles. Earth mounds along the roadside prevent access to the surrounding area.

Patrols pass along the road, and, according to the residents, open fire on pedestrians

attempting to cross the fields.

A Journey to the Villages

A team from PHR-Israel answered appeals from the residents of the villages to come and

observe the impact of the roadblocks on their daily lives and on their access to health


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services, education, commerce and employment. We left Tayeh, Israel, at 11:00 am in a

four-wheel drive vehicle suitable for difficult terrain.

We entered the West Bank via checkpoint 105 to the south of Tulkarem. We then

continued along Road No. 357, which leads east toward Nablus. At the intersection with

Road No. 57, we turned right (southeast), and at Shomron intersection (to the west of

Deir Sharaf intersection), which connects Road No. 57 and Road No. 60, we turned south

onto Road No. 60.

We drove past the intersection of Road No. 60 and the Qalqilya Nablus road. Access toNablus from this intersection has been completely blocked by large rocks, concrete

blocks and earth embankments. There are IDF outposts along the road, which is the only

access route linking Qalqilya and Nablus. Palestinians wishing to reach Nablus must

cross Road No. 60 on foot, continue on foot to the adjacent village of Sarra, and then

proceed by vehicle to Nablus. The residents report that when the soldiers see them

crossing the road, they shoot teargas canisters at them.

We continued along Road No. 60 to the T intersection, where we turned onto Road No.

57, which leads to the north, parallel to the eastern outskirts of Nablus. Slightly to the

north of the turn, before the Hawara checkpoint, we turned east onto the by-pass road

leading to the settlement of Elon Moreh. We traveled on to Bet Furik checkpoint, where

we wished to turn west in order to view the ditches along the road and to reach the

villages from the northwest. The soldiers allowed us to pass, and we continued to drive

toward the Balata checkpoint. At the checkpoint we asked permission to travel to the

northeast and on to the villages. The soldiers refused, saying that Nablus was under

curfew. We retraced our route through the Bet Furik checkpoint, and then turned north

onto the by-pass road, traveling in the direction of the settlement of Elon Moreh. To the

east of the village of Salem we saw an earth embankment blocking a small path leading

to the village. Our four-wheel drive vehicle just managed to turn down into the field.

We then reached a ditch, and at a certain point managed to cross through the mud, with

great difficulty; two of the passengers had to descend from the vehicle and cross on foot.


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It was only while we were crossing the field that we noticed the nearby IDF observation

point. The residents later informed us that when the soldiers see cars or pedestrians

attempting to cross at this point, they open fire, or bring them to the checkpoint where

they are forced to wait for hours. We managed to reach Salem and Deir al Hatab through

the fields. Within Salem, and between Salem and Deir al Hatab, we did not encounter

any difficulty traveling by car.

When we attempted to leave Deir al Hatab in the direction of Azmut, we were once again

forced to turn back after the residents told us that there were soldiers along the ditches

blocking our route. They warned us not to go near the ditches, since the soldiers mightopen fire. We could see the soldiers from a distance, and retraced our route. We then

climbed a hill to the north of Deir al Hatab in order to observe the roadblocks.

The Return Journey

As noted above, the by-pass road to the settlement of Elon Moreh passes to the east of

Deir al Hatab. The land between the village and the road is rocky and cannot be crossed

in a private vehicle. Moreover, anyone crossing the area on foot or by vehicle is liable to

be shot at by Israeli soldiers at any time. Nevertheless, we crossed the area, waving flags

bearing medical emblems. We reached the by-pass road unharmed, and then traveled

along the road until we reached the point where we had left the road earlier. We then

retraced the route detailed above, without encountering any delays.

Along our entire route, and particularly along road No. 60, we noticed that every

access route to the by-pass roads, even very narrow dirt tracks, had been blocked,

excavated or destroyed. In addition, the verges of the roads were all lined by rocks

and earth mounds, preventing access to the road by vehicles or pedestrians from the

fields. The roads were almost completely deserted due to the sweeping prohibition

on travel by Palestinian vehicles along the roads in the West Bank. Sometimes we

saw donkeys carrying merchandise along dirt tracks between the villages. The

situation was in stark contrast to the past, when the roads would have been crowded

with Palestinian vehicles of all types.


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Details of Our Visit and Information about the Villages

The three villages have a total population of approximately 11,000 5,000 in Salem, and

3,000 each in Deir al Hatab and Azmut.

The only medical center in all three villages is situated in Salem. The center is run by

a Palestinian NGO called The Union of Health Work Committees. We spoke to the

physician and one of the nurses, as well as to a number of residents and members of the

village councils.

The medical staff comprises one general physician and two nurses. The physician lives

in Azmut, and is not always able to reach his work, despite the short distance involved,

due to the obstacles along the way. At other times he is obliged to sleep in Salem. One

nurse lives in Salem and the other in Deir al Hatab; they staff the clinic on a daily basis.

In addition, a gynecologist comes to the clinic twice a week from Nablus, but he is often

prevented from entering or leaving Nablus. As a result, pregnant women in the villages

cannot be ensured regular monitoring. The center has equipment for taking blood and

stool samples, but these must be transferred to Nablus for laboratory tests. Sometimes

the gynecologist is able to take the samples to Nablus, but sometimes this is impossible.

In the past, the clinic served all the villages in the area, including Bet Furik and Bet

Dajan, which are further away and more isolated from the medical facilities in Nablus.

Today, this is no longer possible. In the past, specialists from Nablus came to the clinic

once a week, enabling residents to receive specialist treatment even if they could not

travel to Nablus. Now the physicians are not allowed to reach the villages; neither can

the residents travel to Nablus.

Chronic Patients

Sixty-four diabetes patients in the three villages require monitoring and treatment with

insulin. The clinic in Salem does not stock insulin, and patients must travel to Nablus on

foot. This is extremely difficult, and therefore does not always happen regularly. There


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are no renal patients in the villages requiring dialysis, but there are several residents who

suffer from high blood pressure and heart disease. These patients are obliged to

overcome numerous obstacles in order to undergo treatment and monitoring at medical

centers in Nablus.

Emergency Evacuation

The physician told us that it is impossible for ambulances to enter the villages. Patients

must walk on foot to the ambulance, which waits on the road. Sometimes, however, the

ambulance is unable to reach the road, since it must pass through at least two staffed

checkpoints along the way. The physician reported two cases when patients have dieddue to delays in evacuation. One occurred approximately two months ago, when the

village pharmacist suffered a cardiac incident and was taken on foot toward the road

where an ambulance was waiting. He died on the way. The second case occurred

approximately one month ago. A woman in labor attempted to walk from Azmut toward

the road, but her passage was blocked by soldiers. She gave birth in the open and her

child died shortly after.

In Deir al Hatab, we learned of an additional violation of health rights. This time the

obstacle was not physical, but was the creation of the General Security Service (GSS).

During our tour of the village, we made a house visit to a man who requires back surgery

due to a work accident sustained in Israel. The man has been recognized as eligible for

care by the National Insurance Institute, but during the processing of his file, he was

summoned to a meeting. Only after he arrived did he realize that the person he was

meeting was not a representative of the National Insurance Institute, but an agent of the

GSS. The man informed him that unless he agreed to collaborate and forward

information to the GSS, he would not be able to undergo the operation. We collected

testimony from the patient and intend to take legal action in order to prevent the security

forces from abusing access to medical treatment as a form of pressure.

As mentioned, we were unable to reach the village of Azmut. We observed the village

and the roadblocks in the area from the adjacent mountain.


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Behavior of soldiers

At the Bet Furik checkpoint Theres no Area A any more. We spoke to one of

the soldiers at this checkpoint, as well as to the checkpoint commander. They examined

our identity cards and expressed astonishment that Israelis wanted to enter areas

populated by Palestinians. The soldier told us that he was concerned for our safety, and

advised us to take care. At one point, when we stated that we were not entering Area A

[areas defined under the Oslo accords as Palestinian-administered PHR], one of the

soldiers commented Theres no Area A any more. The soldiers allowed us to pass inboth cases, and even recommended the best way to enter the villages. As noted above,

the Palestinian women students were treated differently, and were termed escapees

after they attempted to circumvent the checkpoint and reach university in Nablus. Their

punishment was to be forced to sit by the checkpoint for several hours. When asked, the

soldier told us that they would be permitted to leave soon.

At the Balata checkpoint: We leave them there Let them dehydrate, let them

die. When we reached the iron gate, we saw two soldiers standing inside a Palestinian

truck, painstakingly opening box after box. Occasionally the soldiers made comments

about the content of the boxes and laughed. The driver waited by the side. When one of

the soldiers saw us, he angrily shouted at us to move back to the other side of the gate.

He turned to the Palestinians who were working at the checkpoint (installing

communication lines), and told them to tell us to close the gate by ourselves. We refused

to do so. The soldier approached us along with another soldier, and angrily asked why

we had not closed the gate. We asked why we should do that, and he did not respond.

We explained that we wanted to approach the villages from the west. They took our

identity cards, and carefully scrutinized those belonging to the Arab passengers. They

expressed astonishment and amazement at our presence at the checkpoint. They stated

that there was a curfew in Nablus, and there was no chance that we could get in. We

explained that we did not intend to enter Nablus, but to the visit the villages to the east.

We also asked them why they were shouting at the truck driver, and why they needed to


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inspect its contents, since the truck was attempting to enter Nablus, not to enter Israel.

One of the soldiers replied that the Palestinians often smuggle ammunition into Nablus

and then fire at us. They called their commander; when he arrived and heard that we

were Israelis, he laughed loudly. He told us that we were crazy. We explained that we

wanted to examine the roadblocks that prevent the villagers from receiving medical

treatment in Nablus. He told us that the area behind us was Escapee Valley. Anyone

who tried to circumvent the checkpoints and reach Nablus on foot was caught by the

soldiers and made to stand at one of the checkpoints. The soldiers leave them there

Let them dehydrate [lit. dry up PHR], let them die. He laughed loudly throughout

his comments. He told us that There is no chance, you do not have permission to crossthe checkpoint and went away. Another soldier looked at us uncomfortably and said

You get it? And hes our commander.

While we waited at the checkpoint, a father was allowed to cross, carrying his young

daughter in his arms. He told us that his daughter is mentally retarded, and he asked for

our help in referring her for medical treatment. We took his details so that we could

continue to process the case at PHR-Israels offices. After nothing came from our

waiting at the checkpoint and we were refused permission to cross, we turned back.


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Discussion

Our visit clearly showed that Palestinian residents are deliberately being prevented from

traveling between different areas within the West Bank. As the occupying power, the

Israeli security forces are bear full responsibility for the well-being of all the residents of

the occupied area. In practice, however, the State of Israel implements a system of gross

discrimination within the occupied area, clearly preferring the well-being, security and

health rights of the Jewish settlers to those of the Palestinian residents. Even the

unacceptable argument that Palestinians are prevented from reaching the by-pass roads

only in order to protect the settlers using these roads loses credibility when one realizesthat at no point when Palestinians need to cross the by-pass roads in order to move from

one Palestinian population center to another (e.g. from the Qalqilya District to the Nablus

District, or from Bet Furik to Nablus) has Israel made arrangements to enable them to do

so (e.g. by means of a staffed checkpoint).

The claim that the roadblocks are needed in order to prevent the passage of persons

smuggling arms, explosives and so on is also contradicted by moral and logical standards

as well as simple considerations of cost-effectiveness: (1) Staffed checkpoints could

achieve the same goal, while permitting the rapid passage of patients and medical staff.

(2) A healthy person is able, albeit with some difficulty, to cross the physical barriers,

whereas the sick, the elderly and the weak are prevented from doing so. (3) It is unclear

why such roadblocks are needed within the West Bank, in addition to the checkpoints

along the Green Line or the Seam Line (an entity which, we note in passing, is fluid

and defined solely on the basis of Israeli interests).

Accordingly, we believe that this is a deliberate policy of collective punishment, with the

goal of applying pressure on the Palestinian population. It would further appear, contrary

to the States claims, that these are not temporary security measures, but rather a plan

designed to lead to the permanent fragmentation of the various Palestinian population

centers. The results of this policy include the destruction of most types of

communication between population centers roads, mail, deliveries and commercial


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routes and the paralysis of systems based on connections between the various centers

and the communities they serve, viz. the health and education systems, and other

economic and civilian systems. The damage this causes to the Palestinian community is

enormous, both in immediate terms and in the long term. If, at some unknown point in

the future, the Israeli government decides to desist from this policy, the rehabilitation of

infrastructures will be protracted and costly. The liability for this will rest with the State

of Israel, and the financial and organizational burden will be considerable.

The Israeli argument that the international aid organizations that have moved in to assist

the civilian population meet its needs, and that they are allowed to work freely isinaccurate, and reflects a cynical and hypocritical attitude. Localized assistance in the

form of water, food or medical equipment cannot compensate for the lack of a balanced

infrastructure enabling the passage of merchandise and services from one place to the

next. Allowing aid vehicles to pass freely while the Palestinians are reduced to using

animals to carry merchandise is just one example of the deliberate undermining of

Palestinian civil society, which is being pushed back by decades.

As we left the villages behind us, we felt that we were moving not only from one region

to another, but from one era to another. As the iron gate swung shut, we were aware that

we had been transient visitors in the largest prison administered by the State of Israel a

prison in which millions of Palestinian civilians are held: the prison of the Occupied

Territories. Neither a High Court petition nor a formal procedure drafted by well-

intentioned officers can change this reality. The policy of checkpoints, roadblocks and

curfew must be uprooted. The concrete damage this policy causes is evident to anyone

who has eyes to see.

physicians for human rights-israel: blocked - a visit to the villages of salem, deir al hatab and...

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