Bethlehem and Surroundings November 12, 2004, – Observers: Yehudit A., Tamar G., Tsili G. (Reporting) 11:00-14:00The last Friday of RamadanThe day of Arafat’s burial in Ramalla11:00-12:15, Bethlehem Checkpoint 300 – Bethlehem, Border Police presence12:30-13:30, Walja Checkpoint [near Ein Yael Jerusalem] Border Police presenceSummaryEmpty checkpoint: Not a soul has passed through Bethlehem checkpoint, even though it is Holy Friday of the month of Ramadan. As instructed by the Chief of Staff, the Israeli occupation army has forbidden the general Muslim public in the West Bank from fulfilling their right to pray at the Temple Mount. Soldiers of Military Border Police stood at the deserted checkpoint with nothing to do. To live in your house is breaking the law. Therefore, to jail you, to imprison you, and to demolish your home means upholding the law. In the shed adjacent to the checkpoint, a Palestinian family from Walja [inside Jerusalem] is awaiting the result of their investigation. They were taken from their home this morning by border police soldiers and have been detained for investigation at Checkpoint 300 for being illegal residents in their own home. Their home, by the way, is no longer there. It was demolished three days ago by bulldozers from, either the Security Office, or the Jerusalem municipality with the claim that it is an illegal building with no building permits. The testimony of the family was filmed and will be brought here later. In the shadow of Arafat’s funeral and burial the IDF continues to commit crimes against humanity comfortably. Crimes against humanity, defined in section 7 of the Rome Pact, occur, among others, (in partial and free translation) as part of an inclusive or systematic attack targeted against a civilian population (knowingly), murder, genocide, slavery, uprooting, and forcible transfer, imprisonment, torture, various sexual assaults, disappearance of people, apartheid and more.www.knesset.gov.il/mmm/data/docs/m00151.doc#_Toc11251001 Bethlehem Checkpoint 300 [between Bethlehem and Gilo neighborhoods], is the pathway to Jerusalem for all residents of Bethlehem and Hebron area. Last year at the same time and place, on the last Friday of Ramadan, we witnessed difficult sights. Hundreds of Palestinians were attempting to pass through the checkpoint to pray at the Temple Mount. Tens of Israeli security people [police, army, and border police] under the command of Etzion Brigade Commander, Nadav Padan, prevented the worshipers from passing and blocked their path. That occurred in spite of the declarations and announcements by the Prime Minister and the Civic Administration regarding “easing up conditions for the Palestinians” and the significance of freedom of religion and worship in Israel. The IDF spokesperson announced then – “ The IDF and the Civic Administration are preparing to enable freedom of worship for Palestinian citizens asking to pray the “leilat Al Kadar” and the “Last Friday prayer of Ramadan”. Sarcastically and as a sign of “generosity”, Israel issued then 5,000 permits for the Temple Mount for the 2,000,000 Palestinians residing in the West Bank. [See summaries for-“Systematic Policy of Abuse Using Administrative Means.”]www.machsomwatch.orgHundreds of Palestinians whom we saw at the checkpoint were not permitted to pass, and they prayed on the road against the barbwire that was spread across it. This year we decided to go back to the same place at the same time. Checkpoint 300 was almost empty. A dog has not passed by. A Palestinian from East Jerusalem sat in his empty transit gazing into space. He did not even wait for passengers to arrive. According to him, the few Palestinians who attempted sneak across the checkpoint were caught and turned back. This year the IDF has not professed to be humane. “No one passes; Bethlehem is under encirclement; the territories are under general closure,” told us the commander of the checkpoint manned by Border Police enveloping Jerusalem soldiers. The Border Police soldiers leaned against the concrete cubes with nothing to do. Today the situation at the checkpoint is only a little different from the last months. On regular days there is hardly any traffic. Only tourists and Israeli residents are allowed to pass through. Today there has been no traffic at all. Indeed our shift was very quiet, quiet like death. Tens of thousands of people did not arrive at the checkpoint; tens of thousands have been locked up in their homes, in encirclement, in closure, in jail, in edict by that Major General or another. The army, implementing instructions by the Prime Minister and Security Minister, can award itself a great victory in abrogation of freedom, abrogation of the rights and lands of the Palestinian people.The Lies of the Security SystemAnd in spite of all this, the army and police are attempting to convince us that they are actually a “human rights” organization. This morning Carmela Menashe, the military correspondant for channel 2, broadcasted that “women can pass freely and that men 45 years and older are permitted to arrive for prayer at the Temple Mount…” This sounds relatively good. But then, at the end, the demagogy and lies of the IDF spokesperson are exposed: “If they have Israeli ID.”… meaning that Palestinians from the West Bank are forbidden from going to the Temple Mount. And among the Israeli Palestinians (who live within the Israeli borders) only those who are 45 yrs. and older are allowed. When they say it is “permitted”, they mean it is forbidden; when they say it is forbidden, it is also forbidden. It is forbidden in any case. At 2:15, the conclusion of prayer at the Temple Mount, we heard Kardy, the Israeli police mafkal, announce on the radio: “ The Israeli police is on high alert, due to the close timing of the two events [Arafat’s burial and the Ramadan prayer]. We have assigned policemen to minimize points of friction…” and then without blinking an eye and shamelessly he said, “We will enable all who wish so to fulfill their religious right to pray at the Temple Mount”. In summary the IDF spokesperson announced, “15,000 arrived for prayer.” That means that even the Israeli residents, 45 years and older, were not permitted to enter.