A year ago Secretary of State Condeleeza Rice announced with much fanfare the negotiation of an agreement between the Palestinian Authority and the Israel government regarding the operation of border crossings between Gaza, Israel and Egypt. The agreement was designed to allow commerce between Gaza and its neighbors while addressing Israeli security concerns. Surprisingly the UN has gone back and looked to see what has actually happened in the past year. Here are their conclusions:
AMA Provisions/Progress
1. Rafah will operate as soon as it is ready to operate at an international standard with a target date of 25 November 2005. - The crossing opened on 25 November and operated almost daily in the presence of international observers until 25 June. Since this time it has been closed by the Israeli authorities on 86% of days due to security reasons.
2. Rafah will also be used for the export of goods. - Rafah has not opened for the export of goods.
3 The passages will operate continuously and … the number of export trucks per day processed though Karni will reach … 400 by the end of 2006. - Karni crossing operations improved during the first two months of the AMA but since 15 January Karni has opened erratically, negatively impacting the import of humanitarian aid and commercial trade. The number of exported trucks have averaged 12 per day in 2006.
4 Israel will permit the export of all agricultural products from Gaza during the 2005 harvest season… Israel will ensure the continued opportunity to export - Less than 4% of the harvest was exported. In relation to the operation of other crossing points: (1) No progress has been made towards opening Kerem Shalom crossing for commercial traffic as the PA object to its use as it is wholly located in Israel; and (2) Work on the Erez commercial crossing is due to be completed at the end of 2006 although operating procedures have not been discussed.
5. Israel will allow the passage of convoys to facilitate the movements of goods and persons between Gaza and the West Bank. - These have not been permitted by Israeli authorities and no talks have been initiated on this subject between the GoI and PA as required under the AMA.
6. Consistent with security needs Israel will facilitate the movement of people and goods within the West Bank and minimize disruption to Palestinian lives. - The number of physical obstacles to movement has increased by 44%; in the West Bank. Further restrictions to movement have been imposed on individuals through the extension of the permit system.
7. Gaza seaport construction can start. The GoI will undertake to assure donors that it will not interfere with the operation of the port.- The GoI has not given assurances to donors and no work has started on the construction of the seaport.
8. Discussions will continue on the issues of security arrangements, construction and operation of an airport in the Gaza Strip.- Discussions ceased
(To see the entire report click here)
It is easy to sit in the comfort of your office in Ramallah, Jerusalem, Washington DC or Hailey, Idaho and say “this is terrible” or “this is a result of security concerns”. It is harder to have a detached viewpoint when you are sitting at the Rafah crossing waiting with your 2 year old to enter Gaza. Laila al Haddad, a Harvard educated, Palestinian from Gaza, who currently lives in North Carolina, writes this in her blog about her time at the Rafah checkpoint. (Her Al Jazeera article on this is here)
what do I tell a two-year-old?
He keeps asking me about the border. Yousuf, I mean. He overhears things, ma3bar this and ma3bar that…and so naturally inquisitive, he asks what we are doing and why are we still here and each question if followed by another and another..
“Mama can I ask you something?”
“Anything, my love”
“Why are we still here, in Arish?”
“Because we are waiting to enter Gaza, dear”
“But then why don’t we go to Gaza?
Because the ma3bar is closed, my love.
“Why is it still closed??”
[silence]
“Mommy why is still closed?”
“I don’t know.” I know my, dear, but do you really want to know? Do you really need to know?
“Well who’s closing it mommy?”
What do I tell him? “Some bad people.”
“You mean like in the stories, like Sheer Khan in the Jungle Book?”
“Yes, sure, like Sheer Khan.”
“But who are they? Who are these bad people? Is it the yahood?” He asks, mimicking what he’s heard on the border.
What do I say? I hesitate. “Look, there are some people; some are good, some are bad. And the bad ones are closing the border.
"But why? What did we do?
I wish I knew, my dear. I wish I had all the answers, my love, so I could answer all your questions. I wish I didn’t have to answer such questions to start with. But now I do, and what can I say to you?
“Mommy, please tell them to open it.”
“I tried, my dear.”
“Try harder. Try again. Tell them again. Please, tell them ‘Yousuf wants to enter Gaza’.”And so it goes:
Dear Mr. Peretz: My son Yousuf, 2 years and 9 months, would like me to inform you that he wants
to enter Gaza. He has asked me to tell whoever it is who is keeping it closed to open the border for him immediately. In fact, he asks me everyday. And now, asking is no long sufficient: he wants answers, too. Why is the border still closed? And who is keeping it closed and why? So, in addition to asking you to open the border, I am also writing to ask you what I can tell a 2 year old to satisfy his insatiable curiosity. What can I tell him of borders and occupation and oppression and collective punishment? What would YOU tell him? Lying doesn’t work-2 year olds are like natural born lie detectors. And so he figures it’s the bad guy-like in the stories that we all read growing up. And now, he demands to know who the bad guy is. What do I tell a 2 year old, Mr. Peretz, about the bad guy who won’t let him return home?
A Palestinian mother
(To see her blog site click here)
Maybe George Bush, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Omert, and PA Prime Minister Ishmail Haniya and all of us should go to Rafah and explain it Yousef.
Israel
Palestine
Gaza
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