| Palestinian Leaders Denounce New Erez Checkpoint in
Bethlehem as Apartheid BADIL Resource
Center In a press conference held today in the Bethlehem Municipality, Palestinian leaders including the Mayor of Bethlehem Hanna Nasser, Khalid al-‘Azza from the Bethlehem Land Defense Committee, and a delegation from the Greek Orthodox Church headed by Father Atallah Hanna, strongly denounced the construction of the new Erez checkpoint in Bethlehem as a symbol of apartheid. The conference, which was organized by Palestinian human rights organizations (BADIL, Jerusalem Center for Women, LAW, WI’AM) and the Bethlehem Land Defense Committee was attended by various leaders from the Bethlehem community, foreign consuls including representatives from the American Consulate and the European Community, as well as local and international press. In the conference Mayor Hanna Nasser called on the international community to join Bethlehem in its struggle to resist the developing Israeli apartheid system. Hanna Nasser also openly denied allegations that Palestinian officials had assented to the construction of the new checkpoint. Father Attalah Hanna strongly denounced the new checkpoint and condemned Israel for violating the sanctity of Christian and Muslim holy sites. Palestinian entrepreneur Khader Jerashi, who owns and operates the new parking lot that will be used to hold Palestinian vehicles who are prohibited from entering Jerusalem, denied that the parking lot was part of the Israeli plan and promised to physically destroy the lot if it was to be used for Israeli purposes. Several bulldozers continue to prepare the foundation for the new checkpoint today and new cement was being poured to build a wall around the existing checkpoint. The 650 meter walking path from the parking lot to the new checkpoint was also opened this week and, according to Hanna Nasser, Israeli soldiers asked the Bethlehem Municipality employed guard to evacuate the Municipality property. The Bethlehem Municipality owns 27 dunums of property adjacent to the existing checkpoint. Some of the property has already been leveled to make way for the new checkpoint. The construction of an Erez checkpoint in Bethlehem violates a host of Palestinian rights. The new checkpoint will engender the confiscation of more Palestinian land and strengthen the policy of Israeli military closure around Jerusalem which has decimated the Palestinian economy in the West Bank, including occupied Jerusalem, since the imposition of the closure on March 30, 1993 (see www.unesco.org for details). The military closure also severely impairs the freedom of movement of Palestinians and sabotages Palestinian national rights to Jerusalem by creating a de fact border before the start of the final status negotiations. For more information contact: BADIL Resource Center, PO Box 728, Bethlehem, Palestine; tel/fax 274-7346, 277-7086; email, info@badil.org. |