CHECK POINTS in WEST BANK & GAZA for next few weeks I will be writing on the miserable LIFE of PALESTINIANS in the Gaza & West Bank. Their BLOCKADE by Israeli Check points (incl by Egypt). 1st Check Point for Gazans is at Erez which is meant for UN personnels & Journalists only. Its description is as follows; After a series of corridors and steel turnstiles is a concrete wall with a steel door. It slides open, controlled by a distant Israeli at the other end of the CCTV, and Gaza is on the other side. Next comes a kilometre-long wired-in walkway. If you’re lucky, a few Palestinians granted permission by Israel to approach the gate will be waiting. They run a shuttle service that links up with taxis that take you to the Hamas checkpoint. Israel destroyed their small terminal when the current war started. Now they’re back to noting down passport numbers in a ledger on a table under the shade of a tree. (Jeremy Bowen is the BBC’s Middle East editor and the author of “The Arab Uprisings” is considered an unbiased reporter) 2nd Check Point for Gazans is at Kerni meant for goods only that opens into Israel. 3rd Check Point for Gazans is through Rafah, Egypt which is not open 24 hrs but opens at different times and is meant for utilities & traffic. Gazans used hundreds of Tunnels for transportation, leading into Egypt, prior to recent Israel-Gaza war, which were destroyed by Israeli shelling. Now they are virtually in prison.
Posted on: Mon, 05 Jan 2015 22:50:32 +0000