Tag: General Closure

Another GENERAL CLOSURE of the West Bank for the 10-day Jewish holiday of Succot

Acording to the Jerusalem Post, a general closure will be implemented in “Judea and Samaria” (the West Bank) for ten days, starting from midnight tonight, for the Succot holiday: “For the duration of the closure, persons in need of medical attention will be permitted to pass for care. The passage of humanitarian aid as well as doctors, medical personnel, NGO members, lawyers, religious workers and additional professional groups will be authorized by the District Coordination and Liaison office. The closure will begin on Thursday at 11:59 pm and end on Saturday October 10 at 11:59 pm. The defense minister’s decision was made in accordance with the IDF’s security evaluation of the area”. This JPost report can be read in full here.

On top of that, the IDF is imposing very tight security restrictions on Jerusalem on Friday, the beginning of the Succot holiday — and also the day that the chief Palestinian Islamic Court Judge Sheikh Taysir Tamimi has called for a demonstration in defense of Al-Aqsa Mosque to follow the regular Friday prayers. According to the restrictions, men will only be admitted to the Haram ash-Sharif where the Friday prayers will be performed at Al-Aqsa if they are over the age of 50, and have Israeli ID (citizens and permanent residents of East Jerusalem, presumably). There will also be a heavy police and Border Police presence at all entrances and main intersections in the city.

However, lush palm fronds are being imported from Gaza to cover the roofs of the Succot huts that Jewish families build outside their homes to commemorate the Biblical account of the Jewish tribes’ 40 years of wandering in the desert after being released from exile in Egypt, but before finding the Promised Land.

ANOTHER 48-hour GENERAL CLOSURE of the West Bank – for Nakba Day

In an email sent on Thursday, May 14, 2009 at 10:40 PM, the IDF announced that “In accordance with the decision made by the Minister of Defense and as part of the security measures adopted by the defense establishment, a general closure will be implemented in the Judea and Samaria region [i.e., the West Bank] as of tonight, May 14th, 2009 at 23:59. The closure will be lifted on the night of Saturday, May 16th, 2009 at 23:59, in accordance with security assessments.  For the duration of the closure, persons in need of medical attention will be permitted to pass for care. Additionally, the passage of humanitarian aid as well as doctors, medical personnel, NGO members, lawyers, religious workers and additional professional groups will be authorized by the District Coordination and Liaison offices. In addition, commercial crossings will remain open for the passage of supplies into the Judea and Samaria area.  The closure has no effect on the movement of journalists, who are reminded to ensure that their GPO credentials, passports and visas are valid. Media personnel with Israeli or dual citizenship are required to sign release forms prior to visiting the A areas and are encouraged to coordinate their passage in advance with the IDF Spokesperson’s News Desk”.

Nakba [“Catastrophe” or “Disaster”] Day, marked on 15 May, commemorates the exile of some 750,000 Palestinians who were fled or expelled from their homes in the fighting that surrounded the creation of the state of Israel [proclaimed overnight on 14-15 May 1948, as British troops pulled out, ending the British Mandate].   The fighting [very little of which involved Palestinians]  started as the UN adopted resolution 181 on 29 November 1947, which proposed the partition of the British Mandate of Palestine into two states, one Jewish and one Arab, and the fighting is considered to have continued until armistice agreements were reached between Israel and neighboring Arab States in 1949.

Total Complete General Closure of West Bank for three-day Jewish holiday period

From midnight tonight until Wednesday, there will be a total, complete, general closure of the West Bank for a three-day period to mark Purim — commemorating the Jewish Queen Esther who, with her uncle Mordechai. were able to persuade her husband the Persian King Ahasuerus not to allow a massacre of Jews that was being planned by the King’s wicked Vizier, Haman.

Israel’s Government Press Office calls Purim “one of Judaism’s more colorful and popular holidays”.
Continue reading Total Complete General Closure of West Bank for three-day Jewish holiday period

Another Jewish holiday (Succot), another general closure

How to explain how exhausting this all is ??? Now, a ten-day general closure that will make life here very difficult indeed …

This is no way to treat other human beings.

This email came around this evening, just an hour or two before this new general closure was to start:

“General Closure of Judea and Samaria Region [i.e., the West Bank] during the Holiday of Tabernacles. In accordance with Ministry of Defense directives and in light of security assessments, a general closure of Judea and Samaria will commence today, October 12th, 2008 at midnight. The lifting of the closure will be carried out on Tuesday, October 21st, 2008 at midnight, in accordance with security assessments. For the duration of the closure, the passage of those in need of humanitarian and medical aid, as well as other specific requests will be authorized by the District Coordination and Liaison offices. The IDF regards the festival of Tabernacles as a highly sensitive time. Accordingly, the IDF will be on higher alert in order to ensure the safety of the citizens of Israel, while preserving, to the best of its ability, the daily routine of the Palestinian population”.

Another Jewish holiday (Yom Kippur), another general closure

The IDF announcement came in an email 14 hours after the closure had already gone into effect: “In accordance with Ministry of Defense directives and in light of security assessments, a general closure of Judea and Samaria commenced yesterday, October 7th, 2008 at midnight. The lifting of the closure will be carried out on Friday, October 10th, 2008 at 8:00, in accordance with security assessments. For the duration of the closure, the passage of those in need of humanitarian and medical aid, as well as other specific requests will be authorized by the District Coordination and Liaison offices. The IDF regards Yom Kippur as a highly sensitive time. Accordingly, the IDF will increase its alertness in order to ensure the safety of the citizens of Israel , while preserving, to the best of its ability, the daily life of the Palestinian population”.

The Ramallah-based Palestinian Monitoring Group, part of the Negotiations Support Unit of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) reported that “Beginning at 24:00 on 07 October 2008, the Israeli army has continued to impose a complete closure over the West Bank districts on the occasion of the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur. The Israeli army has also prevented civilians, including workers, from accessing the city of Jerusalem and areas inside the Green Line, only allowing previously coordinated humanitarian cases. The closure was lifted on the dawn of 10 October 2008. Beginning on 08 October 2008, the Israeli army has continued to intensify its restrictions at checkpoints located at the entrances to the city of Jerusalem as well as to the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in the old city of Jerusalem. Due to the closure imposed on the West Bank districts on the occasion of the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, the Israeli army has also prevented civilians not holding Jerusalem-issued ID cards from entering the city. As a result, classes were disrupted at schools in the city of Jerusalem”.

Israeli commentator Nachman Shai — the IDF spokesperson during the scud missile attacks on Israel during the First Gulf War — wrote an editorial in Yisrael Hayom “questioning the ‘routine’ closure that was imposed on the Palestinian areas of Judea and Samaria over the Rosh Hashanah holiday and says that, ‘Every day of joy for the Jews thus becomes a day of mourning, or – in the best case – a day of disruption on the Palestinian side’. The editors believe that Israelis and Palestinians are fated to be neighbors for a long time, so ‘Unless we see fit to build a foundation of understanding and even shared values, between us and the Palestinians, this area will always be a ticking bomb, and will explode’.”

Here we go again – General closure announcements

Here we go again – received by email from the Israel Defense Forces:

“General Closure of Judea and Samaria Region [the West Bank] during the Jewish New Year“

“In accordance with Ministry of Defense directives and in light of security assessments, a general closure of Judea and Samaria will commence tonight, September 28th, 2008 at midnight. The lifting of the closure will be carried out on Wednesday, October 1st, 2008 at midnight, in accordance with security assessments.

For the duration of the closure, the passage of those in need of humanitarian and medical aid will be authorized by the District Coordination and Liaison offices. Entry of senior Palestinian officials, doctors, medical personnel, lawyers and families of arrested Palestinians on their way to courts, religious workers, teachers, NGO members and additional professional groups will also be authorized at the discretion of the DCO.

The IDF regards the Jewish New Year as a highly sensitive time. Accordingly, the IDF will increase its alertness in order to ensure the safety of the citizens of Israel , while preserving, to the best of its ability, the daily life of the Palestinian population“.

West Bank General Closure announced — 12 hours after going into effect

As a result of the killing at one of Jerusalem’s most famous yeshivas — one with a very partiuclar national/religious orientation — the Israeli Defense Forces announced a General Closure of the West Bank [referred to as Judea and Samaria] and the Gaza Strip on Friday.

The announcement was circulated by email over 12 hours after the General Closure went into effect.

The reference to Gaza seems to me to be unusual — it has not been mentioned in these annoucements in recent months, probably to reinforce the Israeli position that “Gaza is no longer occupied”, and thus has a different status than the West Bank does.

In practical terms, it would mean that no humanitarian deliveries would be made today into Gaza.

The General Closure will be lifted, according to the IDF announcment, “according to security assessments”.

That means it could last a long while.  Or, it could end tomorrow night (but, the announcement will not be distributed until mid-day on Sunday, probably.

The text of the announcement reads: “Following a decision made by the Minister of Defense and according to security assessments, a general closure will be implemented in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip. The closure began today, Friday, March 7th at 1:00am and will be lifted according to security assessments. During the weekend, the passage into Israel of those in need of humanitarian or medical aid as well as other specific incidents will be authorized by the District Coordination and Liaison offices”.