Ras Khamis Checkpoint, photo by Ronit SelaIn the past few days, the Ras Khamis Checkpoint in north Jerusalem has been plastered with signs announcing its upcoming closure. Local residents of the area, who live beyond the checkpoint but still within the municipal boundaries of Jerusalem, held a protest demonstration today (14 March 2012) against the authorities’ intention to redirect pedestrian traffic through an alternate checkpoint.
ACRI has appealed both to the Israel Police and to the Border Police’s Jerusalem Seam-line Command, demanding that the Ras Khamis Checkpoint– which serves as the primary crossing point for its residents to access other parts of the city – not be closed until the State fulfills its promise to the court to build 8 pedestrian entry lanes at the nearby Shu’afat Refugee Camp checkpoint, allowing for 5,000 people to transverse daily during peak hours.
The route of the Separation Barrier has entirely cut off the residents of the Shu’afat Refugee Camp, Dahiyat al-Salaam, Ras Shehada, and Ras Khamis from their lives centered in Jerusalem. Most of the residents in these areas carry blue Israeli identity cards and live within the municipal borders of Jerusalem, and yet with the building of the Separation Barrier, they have been isolated from the majority of the city (as have been the areas of Kafr ‘Aqeb and Samiramis).
The Ras Khamis Checkpoint, located on Moshe Dayan Avenue, serves 15,000 neighborhood locals as a pedestrian crossing point, enabling them to get to their jobs, attend school, obtain medical care, visit family members, etc. A few days ago, signs were posted at the checkpoint announcing its impending closure, and today a protest demonstration was held at the site.
During court hearings on the legality of the route of the Separation Barrier, the State promised to build the nearby Shu’afat RC checkpoint such that it would ensure short waiting times for those locals crossing back and forth within their own city of residence, including some 3,000 elementary and high school students who transverse the checkpoint every day on their way to and from school. The State assured the court that the new checkpoint would have eight entry lanes for pedestrians, two of which would be reserved for students and other special populations, and four lanes for vehicles, altogether accommodating the passage of some 5,000 people during peak hours. On the basis of this promise, the court ruled that, “only with the building of this terminal [i.e. the Shu’afat RC checkpoint] and its concurrent operation can the fence along Moshe Dayan Avenue be built,” which would enable the closure of the Ras Khamis Checkpoint.
Nevertheless, the Shu’afat RC checkpoint is nowhere near meeting the commitments made by the State to the Appeals Committee and the Supreme Court. As of today, only one entry lane is open to pedestrians, only two to vehicular traffic, and the special lane for students is only in operation during early mornings and late afternoons. As long as this situation remains, ACRI demands that residents of these neighborhoods be allowed passage through the Ras Khamis Checkpoint.
ACRI attorney Michal Pomerantz noted in the letter to the Police that “the closure of the Ras Khamis Checkpoint at this time, prior to your compliance with the commitments you made regarding the Shu’afat RC checkpoint, would represent a serious and disproportionate blow to the freedom of movement of an entire population that must transverse that checkpoint, and similarly would harm the rights of residents to earn a living, to receive medical attention, to attend school, to pray at holy sites, and to visit their family members.”
Below is the translated letter in its entirety.
14 March, 2012
Re: Ras Khamis Checkpoint closure
To:
Chief Superintendent Shmuel Barak
Commander of the Border Crossings Unit
Israel Police
and
Mr. Shuki Tehauqeh
Border Police Commander
Jerusalem Seam-line
Dear Sirs,
1. We turn to you with this urgent appeal that you prevent the closure of the Ras Khamis checkpoint to local neighborhood traffic, at least until you have fulfilled the commitments you made to the Israel Supreme Court regarding the Shu’afat RC checkpoint, as detailed below. This appeal comes in light of information reaching us from the residents of Ras Khamis that signs have recently been posted at the site indicating the imminent closure of the Ras Khamis checkpoint.
2. As you know, the Separation Barrier in the area of the Shu’afat Refugee Camp has cut off the residents of several neighborhoods – Shu’afat RC, Dahiyat al-Salaam, Ras Shehada, and Ras Khamis – from their daily lives centered in Jerusalem. These are residents living within the municipal borders of Jerusalem, most of whom carry blue Israeli identification cards. The Ras Khamis checkpoint serves some 15,000 residents of Ras Khamis as a crossing point into Jerusalem, enabling them to go to and from work, school, medical centers, etc., and it is run in addition to the Shu’afat RC checkpoint that serves residents from the other neighborhoods mentioned above.
3. In the case before the Israel Supreme Court (HCJ 6193/05 Residents’ Council of Ras Khamis v. The Competent Authority under the Emergency Land Requisition (Regulation) Law, decision rendered on 25 November 2008) in which the legality of the Separation Barrier in the area of Shu’afat RC was discussed, the Court ruled that the injury caused to local residents by the route of the Barrier was in fact proportionate, after taking into consideration the commitments made by the State and the rulings of the Appeals Committee established by the Emergency Land Requisition (Regulation) Law, 5710-1949 (herein: the Appeals Committee) in case AC (TA) 405/04 Residents of Shu’afat v. The Competent Authority, decision rendered 31 May 2005) regarding the Shu’afat RC checkpoint (paragraph 24 of the ruling.)
4. In these court proceedings, the State committed to build the Shua’fat RC checkpoint as to accommodate the passage of 5,000 people during peak hours, in order to ensure reasonably short waiting times for residents passing through the checkpoint (paragraph 24). The State further committed that the checkpoint would have eight entry lanes for pedestrians, two of which would be reserved for students and other special populations, as well as four entry lanes for vehicular traffic (paragraph 13).
5. The Appeals Committee stressed the relationship between the operation of the Ras Khamis checkpoint on Moshe Dayan Avenue and the Shu’afat RC checkpoint (referred to as the “crossing terminal”), ruling that: “in light of the above, we should take great care, as a precondition for erecting the fence along Moshe Dayan Avenue, that a crossing terminal be built – one that could accommodate the passage of some 5,000 residents per hour during peak morning hours (from 6AM to 8AM), thus minimizing the harm suffered by residents. Only with the establishment of this terminal and its concurrent operation can the fence along Moshe Dayan Avenue be built, and the [Ras Khamis checkpoint] could then be closed with the operation of the crossing terminal.” [our emphasis]
6. It is plainly evident that the Shu’afat RC checkpoint is nowhere near meeting the commitments, detailed above, made by the State to the Appeals Committee and the Supreme Court. As of today, only one entry lane is open to pedestrians, only two to vehicular traffic, and the special lane for students is only in operation during early mornings and late afternoons. In light of this and for as long as this situation remains, as per the court rulings mentioned above, you must allow the continued passage of local residents through the Ras Khamis checkpoint.
7. The closure of the Ras Khamis checkpoint at this time, prior to your compliance with the commitments you made regarding the Shu’afat RC checkpoint, would represent a serious and disproportionate blow to the freedom of movement of an entire population that must transverse that checkpoint, and similarly would harm the rights of residents to earn a living, to receive medical attention, to attend school, to pray at holy sites, and to visit their family members.
8. As such, we ask that you prevent the closure of the Ras Khamis checkpoint and allow the continued passage of neighborhood residents through that checkpoint, at least until you have fulfilled the commitments made before the Supreme Court.
9. We would appreciate your urgent response to this appeal.
Sincerely,
Michal Pomerantz, Attorney
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel
Cc:
Mr. Yitzhak Aharonovitch, Minister of Public Security
Mr. Ehud Barak, Minister of Defense
Col. Ofer Hindi, Head of the Security Barrier Administration, Ministry of Defense
Lt. Col. Ofer Meital, Head of the Border Crossing and Seam-line Department, Israel Civil Administration
Atty. Alon Ifrah, Legal Counsel Office, Ministry of Defense
Atty. Ronen Leibowitz, Legal Counsel, Jerusalem District Police
