Occupation

Preamble, Article 3. In the case of armed conflict not of an international character occurring in the territory of one of the High Contracting Parties, each Party to the conflict shall be bound to apply, as a minimum, the following provisions:

Persons taking no active part in the hostilities, including members of armed forces who have laid down their arms and those placed hors de combat by sickness, wounds, detention, or any other cause, shall in all circumstances be treated humanely, without any adverse distinction founded on race, colour, religion or faith, sex, birth or wealth, or any other similar criteria ... To this end, the following acts are and shall remain prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever with respect to the above-mentioned persons: (a) Violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture; (b) Taking of hostages; (c) Outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment; (d) The passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court, affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples. 2. The wounded and sick shall be collected and cared for.

Section III, Article 47. Protected persons who are in occupied territory shall not be deprived, in any case or in any manner whatsoever, of the benefits of the present Convention by any change introduced, as the result of the occupation of a territory, into the institutions or government of the said territory, nor by any agreement concluded between the authorities of the occupied territories and the Occupying Power, nor by any annexation by the latter of the whole or part of the occupied territory. (Fourth Geneva Convention, 1949)

The term 'occupation' is a loaded one. For Palestinians, occupation began in 1948, with the establishment of the State of Israel on 78 per cent of their land, the creation of the refugee problem and the obliteration of Palestinian history and culture from what is now Israel. For Israelis, 'occupation', in so far as it exists at all, refers to the military conquest of the West Bank and Gaza during the Six-Day War of June 1967. I will use the latter definition since this implies recognition of the State of Israel within internationally sanctioned borders, those prevailing until 4 June 1967.

Since 1967, Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza have lived under Israeli military rule. They are a stateless people in their own land, disenfranchised and with no political and very few civil rights except the most basic as laid out in the Geneva Conventions of 1949. Israel has continuously evaded its responsibility to implement the Fourth Geneva Convention to which it is a signatory (Geneva Convention Protocols, Vol. 1, [1995], p. 559). An outstanding example is that of the colonies/settlements in the West Bank and Gaza despite the fact that these are illegal under international law (Fourth Geneva Convention, Section Ill, Article 49).

The Convention deals most comprehensively with the obligations of an occupying power towards civilians in occupied territory, but Israel contends that since the West Bank was formerly under Jordanian occupation it cannot be considered a sovereign state, a prerequisite for application of the Convention. Nor is the legal status of Palestinians assured. West Bankers are subject to the directives and commands of the Israeli military commander. Criminal cases against Palestinians are tried by the State of Israel in military courts, with all that this implies. Early in the Occupation, the Supreme Court ruled that Palestinian residents of the Occupied Territories (OT) are eligible, in certain cases only, to appeal to the High Court of Justice based on the equity law system that differs from the regular court system based on rights. Israelis living in the West Bank are subject to Israeli civil and criminal law.

Much has been written about the Occupation and the endless series of plans and road maps that seek to bring 'peace' or 'end the Occupation'. One of the claims of this book is that Israeli interests, political, economic and strategic, are so bound up with possession of the territories as to make any viable, just solution to the conflict unlikely. A solution would imply recognition of legitimate Palestinian claims as equal to those of Israel. That recognition is sadly lacking at all levels of Israeli policy and discourse.

This chapter focuses on Israel's restrictions of Palestinian mobility as a primary tool for perpetuating the Occupation, for creating territorial facts on the ground, and for asserting Israeli supremacy and control. It will provide the reader with a guide to understanding how that system, of which the checkpoints are part, works.

Checkpoint policy

Immediately after the Six-Day War in 1967, a general permit for entry to Israel was conferred on Palestinians in the West Bank (for Gazans this came in the mid-1980s) with the exception of security suspects and criminals. This was part of a general policy of linking the economy of the Occupied Territories with that of Israel. An 'Open Bridges' policy also allowed freedom of goods and movement between the West Bank and Jordan. This 'freedom' often involved humiliating checks on entering and exiting the territories by the military, but nevertheless created a sense of openness and transparency, something that Israel could point to in its favour. Naturally, these concessions could be revoked at will. The open–close–open cycle, the carrot and the stick, created a sense of uncertainty and tension among the Palestinian population, a deliberate programme of psychological warfare (Gazit 1995). Apart from routine weaponry, the arsenal of this war was simultaneously complex and simple: closures, checkpoints, curfews backed up by a permit system that has become more Sisyphean and more draconian with the years. This is how the system evolved:

• 1967 General entry permit conferred on Palestinians wishing to enter Israel. Entry restrictions loosely applied.

• 1991 Continuous general closure imposed on the territories with outbreak of first Gulf War; a personal permit is now required for individuals wishing to enter Israel. Military checkpoints are erected at key points to monitor the system.

• 1991–93 In the wake of a series of stabbings of Israelis by individual Palestinians, the checkpoint-closure system is tightened. Passage between the northern and southern West Bank, between Gaza and the West Bank and East Jerusalem is subject to a permit from the Civil Administration. Paradoxically, the Oslo Accords signed in September 1993 result in further ramifications...