Israel to Build New "Erez Style" Checkpoint for Bethlehem 2000

As the Bethlehem Municipality rushes to complete plans to make the Bethlehem 2000 Project a success, Israel has completed and begun to implement alternative plans for a new "Erez (Gaza) style" checkpoint between Jerusalem and Bethlehem, ostensibly to facilitate the influx of tourists expected for the celebrations in 2000. According to an Israeli map obtained from the Palestinian District Coordinating Liaison Office (DCO) in Bethlehem, the plan entails the conversion of the existing checkpoint, near the Vatican's Tantur Ecumenical Institute (Gilo settlement junction), into a permanent checkpoint to be used exclusively by tourists, Jewish settlers, and VIPs. A parallel road for Palestinians, 150 to 200 meters east of the Hebron Road, will be opened, complete with a 700 car parking lot and a 650 meter" Pedestrian Road" leading to the new "Pedestrian Terminal," similar to the one used in Gaza.

According to sources within the Jerusalem Municipal Council and a recent article in the Israeli press (Ha'aretz 24/9/99), the Israeli Jerusalem Municipality is committed to finishing construction on the new checkpoint this year, despite the fact that approval from the proper municipal authorities has not been obtained. A reinforcement wall has been constructed around the existing checkpoint. The foundation for the receptacle road to be used after the Palestinian workers exit the new checkpoint has also been laid while a 700-car parking lot has been completed.

Construction is also proceeding at Rachel's Tomb inside Bethlehem. According to information solicited by the Bethlehem Municipality from the Israeli Civil Administration, the construction on Rachel's Tomb will include a reinforced concrete wall around the holy site as well as a bridge to connect the guarded parking lot and military outpost with Rachel's Tomb. Palestinians are no longer permitted to pray in the Mosque at the site. The new construction is in addition to the existing military installments including a security wall and seven guard towers. Once the plan is implemented, Israeli plans call for the expansion of the Jerusalem boundary to include Rachel's Tomb, under the auspices of security. The expansion would engender the confiscation and annexation of an additional 4,500 dunums of Bethlehem Municipality land. Since the occupation of the West Bank in 1967, a total of 9,000 dunums have already been confiscated from Bethlehem, 7,000 in 1974 and 2,000 in 1996.

On September 26, under heightened military closure for the Jewish holidays, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) redirected Palestinian traffic along an alternative course in what appears to have been a trial run before the actual conversion of the existing checkpoint. Palestinians were required to park their cars in the new parking lot and then walk over 1,000 meters to pick up transportation at the Gilo junction. Tourists and Jewish worshippers at the heavily guarded Rachel's Tomb, meanwhile, were able to travel with ease to and from Jerusalem through the existing checkpoint.

Although officials in the Palestinian Authority, as well as the Bethlehem Municipality, officially oppose the plan, little action has been taken to halt implementation of the plan. According to officials in the Jerusalem Municipal Council (Also see Ha'aretz, 24/9/99), the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism has already agreed to allow Israel to complete construction of the new checkpoint. Ministry officials have refused to comment on a closed door meeting held on 13 September with Israeli officials to discuss tourist transportation into Bethlehem.

On the street, meanwhile, Palestinians reject the plan as a unilateral Israeli attempt to consolidate claims on Jerusalem and further fragment the Palestinian people and their land. The plan violates the right to freedom of movement, right to property, it inhibits economic trade and development, violates Palestinian national rights in Jerusalem, and contributes to the territorial and political isolation of Bethlehem.

Postscript: On 21 September 1999, Me'ir Margalit, a Jerusalem City Council member of the Meretz Party, submitted a request for the immediate halt of all construction at the site of "Checkpoint 300" on the Gilo-Bethlehem road. The request, addressed to Ze'ev Zinger, Director of the municipal Licensing and Control Department, is based on a legal expertise which states that all road expansions and constructions inside areas of municipal jurisdiction must be approved by the Municipality's Planning and Construction Department, a condition which has not been met in regards to this new checkpoint project.