On 13 December 2006, the High Court of Justice rejected the petition that was submitted by ACRI in June 2004, against the section of the Separation Barrier that was constructed in the neighborhood of A-Ram in northern Jerusalem. The petition was filed on behalf of ACRI, the organization Bimkom – Planners for Planning Rights, Palestinian residents who own businesses in A-Ram, and their employees. The petition challenged the construction of the Barrier around the neighborhood of A-Ram, which forms part of the section of the Barrier known as the “Jerusalem Envelope.” The Barrier surrounds the neighborhood on its western and southern sides, and cuts some 58,000 residents off from East Jerusalem and from a number of adjacent neighborhoods. By so doing it has fatally undermined the lives of both the local residents of A-Ram and of those who live in nearby neighborhoods. Currently, the neighborhood residents, and all those wishing to enter Jerusalem from the area of Ramallah and A-Ram or vice versa, such as individuals with permanent Israeli residency status, people holding permits that enable them to visit the area, or even Israeli citizens, are forced to wait for long periods of time at the Kalandia checkpoint, the only checkpoint in north Jerusalem, which results in a severe disruption of the their daily lives. Many of these residents require daily access to and from the city in order to reach their places of work and their health and education services.
ACRI was astounded and disappointed by the High Court`s ruling that the enclosure of such a large population behind a nine-meter high concrete wall, on almost all sides, is a “proportionate” violation of their human rights. The compromise solution suggested by the High Court of facilitating movement by upgrading the Kalandia checkpoint is of little use, and experience proves that this will not prevent the residents from being cut off from the city, their livelihood sources and other central aspects of their lives. ACRI further emphasized that checkpoints are part of the problem and not the solution, which lies in the removal of the Barrier.
The construction of the Barrier around the neighborhood of A-Ram, in effect, imposed an arbitrary border within a contiguous urban area; undermines all aspects of the residents` lives, most of whom have permanent Israeli residency status. A-Ram – a major economic center in the West Bank – links the northern and southern sections of the West Bank, and connects both to Jerusalem. There exists a financial interdependence between the West Bank residents, for whom A-Ram serves as a commercial center, and the A-Ram residents, whose economic situation is to a large extent dependent on the passage of West Bank residents and East Jerusalemites into their neighborhood. Since the construction of the Barrier in A-Ram, and even before it was hermetically sealed, some 40% of the businesses in A-Ram have closed down, and thousands of residents have left the city for East Jerusalem. Educational services have also been severely affected as many of the local residents study within the East Jerusalem educational system, and conversely many students from Jerusalem and from various villages in the area study in A-Ram. Three schools have already closed down as students and teachers could not reach them in any kind of regularized way. Other schools reported a significant reduction in the number of students who registered for the current school year. A similar impact is felt by students who do not live in the neighborhood but attend its academic colleges, or neighborhood residents who study at institutes of higher education outside of A-Ram. The construction of the Barrier also violates the residents` right to health services, as many rely heavily on hospitals, clinics, and child care centers that are located in Jerusalem or outside of A-Ram.
Despite the fact that A-Ram is a large and thriving community, it is still greatly dependent upon Jerusalem, and its forced separation from the city will undoubtedly weaken the neighborhood’‘s potential for growth and development, and ultimately bring about its demise. Jerusalem also provides the vast majority of public services such as, electricity, garbage disposal, religious services, as well as urban and social services related to the municipal management of the neighborhood. In addition, the Barrier has: lengthened the travel time between the neighborhood and Jerusalem, which used to take only a few minutes, by sealing off the neighborhood and forcing all residents and visitors to pass through the Kalandia checkpoint; impeded the physical growth of the neighborhood by placing its land reserves, which are located on its southeast side, on the “Israeli side” of the Barrier in territory that is slated for the planned expansion of settlements such as Geva Binyamin; curtailed familial, social, and cultural ties between residents of A-Ram and their friends and family who reside inside Jerusalem and its environs; and cut off residents from the communal centers in the city.
The petition further emphasizes the fact that these severe violations contravene the provisions of international law, which obligate an occupying power to ensure the well-being and security of the civilian population under their jurisdiction. The construction of a barrier in an urban area, as in the case of A-Ram, drastically undermines the residents’‘ freedom of movement and violates other basic rights, including: the right to a livelihood, a dignified existence, education, health services, and family life.
In contrast to the claims made by the State, the route of the Barrier in A-Ram is not security-based. If this were the case, the Barrier would separate Palestinian and Jewish neighborhoods, and would not have been constructed along the jurisdictional border of the city. It is therefore clearly a political route, which succeeds only in dividing Palestinian communities from each other in an arbitrary way. This fact has been clearly demarcated by alternative routes published by various bodies such as The Council for Peace and Security, and IPCRI (Israel-Palestine Center for Research and Information).
ACRI Attorney Azem Bishara made clear before the issuance of the ruling that this is clearly a political route that is designated to make permanent the annexation of East Jerusalem, and to include the Palestinian neighborhoods that were annexed as well as the Jewish settlements that were built illegally in East Jerusalem within the Israeli side of the Barrier. This is the most drastic step that has been taken since the occupation of East Jerusalem to separate it physically from the rest of the West Bank, and results in the most severe violation of the full spectrum of basic human rights for Palestinians on both sides of the Barrier. This is an illegal act that breaches the basic norms of international law.
last updated : 06/02/07
