Those of you who walked through the Main Green last week may have noticed several rows of white signs planted in the ground. These signs, put up by Common Ground: Justice and Equality in Palestine/Israel - a student organization which we head - were meant to represent the checkpoints and movement barriers that hinder the day-to-day travel of civilians in the West Bank and Gaza. A typical checkpoint is a road blockade manned by Israeli soldiers; Palestinians who approach must provide an identity card and often wait hours before finding out if they may proceed. Israelis typically pass through without delay.
Because we believe that peaceful coexistence in Israel and the occupied territories can only arise by understanding the lived realities of civilians, we hoped to illustrate how checkpoints interfere with Palestinians' everyday lives. While it is crucial to understand the everyday experiences of Israelis - in particular, the effect of suicide bombings - we wanted to offer a perspective that is largely marginalized and misrepresented in the U.S. media.
Recognition of the suffering that Palestinians experience under a system of checkpoints is not a pro-Palestine or an anti-Israel issue; rather, it is a matter of basic human rights. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights provides for freedom of movement and the right to work, yet the movement barriers in the occupied territories cause frequent interference with Palestinians' ability to commute to work, access needed services and move freely about the land. As Amnesty International documents, "traveling even a short distance between West Bank towns and villages usually entails a lengthy, costly and potentially dangerous journey for Palestinians."
As a result of checkpoints, many workers cannot commute to their jobs and become unemployed. Goods cannot travel in a timely manner - food rots, production is hindered and the economy stagnates. These problems contribute to the high rates of unemployment and poverty in the West Bank: 50 percent of Palestinians are without jobs and 60 percent live below the poverty line of $2.10 a day.
Checkpoints often prevent people from accessing treatment or medical care, and many die as a result. On some occasions, women must give birth at checkpoints, causing the death of newborns. Israeli soldiers are now being trained to deliver babies at checkpoints.
The egregious nature of this situation led the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to condemn "the severe measures adopted by the state party to restrict the movement of civilians between points within and outside the occupied territories, severing their access to food, water, health care, education and work."
Recognizing the severity of this situation should not, however, preclude an understanding of the suffering of Israelis. Suicide bombings and terrorism present serious security concerns, and every state has the right to defend itself. International law, however, mandates that defense measures be reasonable and proportional rather than sweeping and indiscriminate. Checkpoints do not simply target those who carry out terrorist activities; instead, they impose collective punishment on entire communities of Palestinian civilians.
Furthermore, there is no evidence that checkpoints effectively reduce Palestinian terrorism. Rather than regulating movement between the occupied territories and Israel, the majority of checkpoints regulate movement in villages within the occupied territories. This strategy is analogous to regulating the border between the United States and Mexico by restricting movement between Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
Checkpoints are counterproductive in another, more profound sense. Restrictions on movement create hopelessness and humiliation for Palestinians, as they are forced to wait for hours under the watch and control of Israeli soldiers. As unemployment and poverty increase, it becomes more and more difficult for Palestinians to sustain themselves. This suffering gives rise to resentment and desperation, which, horribly, can crystallize in violence against Israelis.
We can all agree that Palestinians are not genetically predisposed to hate Israelis, nor are Arabs inherently inclined to hate Jews. Violence, then, is more likely a result of grief, impoverishment and despair, feelings that only intensify under an occupation enforced through checkpoints.
Checkpoints are nothing more than a Band-Aid for a deeply embedded cycle of fear, hatred and anger which plagues all sides of the conflict. Unfortunately, checkpoints simply reproduce the mechanisms of violence that they allegedly aim to prevent. Peace can only develop once basic human rights are respected and Palestinians are freed from the corrosive effects of poverty, humiliation and despair.
Rachel Brown '05 and Chelsea Sharon '06 would like to thank those who helped to create a common ground by engaging in open-minded discussion on the Main Green last week.
