Ramallah – Ma’an – Today, Tuesday, settlers attacked citizens’ vehicles near the “Beit El” settlement, north of Ramallah.
Yesterday, Monday, the occupation Civil Administration announced that the northern Al-Bireh checkpoint would be opened to Palestinians daily between eight in the morning and three in the afternoon.
During the day, groups of settlers closed the road, threw stones at passing cars, and threatened their passengers in full view of the occupation soldiers.
It is worth noting that the Jerusalem Center has been following the issue since last March, by requesting the opening of the checkpoint. Lawyer Fatima Nasser al-Din-Tabaji worked on sending correspondence and submitting a petition to the Israeli Supreme Court in early May. The center represented the councils and municipalities of Beitin, Silwad, al-Bireh, Deir Jarir, Taybeh, Burqa, Deir Dibwan, Ain Yabrud, and Rammun.
After the Israeli Supreme Court gave the Civil Administration and the army until June 13 to respond to the Jerusalem Legal
Aid Center’s request regarding the closure of the court checkpoint (known as the DCO checkpoint), the Civil Administration announced some easing of the checkpoint, by opening it in Specific hours.
The Center noted in a statement that the Civil Administration’s move to open the checkpoint for specific hours has a double goal, as it prevents Palestinians from using the road during peak hours, to facilitate the movement of settlers, as the majority of people go to work before eight and return after three. This is on the one hand, but on the other hand On the other hand, the occupation authorities allowed settlers to have fun on the street on the first day of opening the checkpoint, only to later claim that preventing the passage of Palestinians on the aforementioned street was a measure aimed at protecting the Palestinians.
In doing so, it circumvents the court’s directions and prevents a binding decision from being taken. Indeed, the next day, that is, Tuesday morning, the occupation soldiers deployed in the
area and obstructed the movement of passing cars, causing a stifling crisis.
The Jerusalem Center considered that the occupation authorities’ decision to continue closing the street from the direction of the town of Beitin, and to continue closing the Silwad-Ein Yabroud road, does not allow for solving the problem of most of the petitioners from the villages east of Ramallah, as they will remain forced to take the narrow and extremely dangerous Yabroud-Ain Sinya road, which constitutes a danger. Especially with the presence of large transport trucks and the crisis in the Jalazoun camp area.
The Center considered that this maneuver aims to establish apartheid as a measure to achieve security. The Center demands that the settlers be held accountable for their orgy instead of punishing the Palestinians for the behavior of the settlers. The Center reminds the occupation authorities of their duty as an occupying force to protect civilians, not to launch settler militias carrying licensed weapons to orgy, and to
keep the occupation soldiers out of the picture.
It is the same maneuver in which the occupation army and the settlers take turns, inciting the settlers to intercept aid convoys to Gaza, where government officials leak to the settlers information about the routes of trucks, and the occupation army stands by and watches as the settlers destroy aid, assault truck drivers, and even steal their contents.
Source: Maan News Agency