Mass entry of Palestinians into Israel calls for new approach to permit regime
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from the West Bank who are normally barred from entering Israel got a glimpse of freedom during Ramadan as single entry permits were issued more liberally. Many also infiltrated without being caught. What does that tell us about Israel’s security rationale regarding its permit regime and resumed construction of the wall?
Frankly, it’s quite hard to believe just how many Palestinians from the West Bank got the unique chance to visit Israel over Ramadan. Some went through the checkpoints with permits valid for just one of the holiday’s Fridays. Haaretz reports that 300,000 entered Israeli borders, and many took the chance to pray in Jerusalem or visit the beach in Tel Aviv and Jaffa, some for the first time in their lives. With that in mind, Gideon Levy rightly asks why these very same people do not get permits more often, perhaps even permanent permits. Would they then turn into more of a danger than they were on the last Friday of Ramadan?
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While the numbers of Palestinians who made it through over these few weekends are astonishing, the mere entry of unauthorized people into Israel is in no way a new phenomenon. In recent months I’ve published the 12 part series “The Wall,” and dedicated one of the chapters to the tens of thousands of workers entering Israel daily, almost half of them illegally. Yet another chapter examined the effects of the wall on Israeli security, and showed how the cessation of suicide attacks has been made possible, amongst other reasons, thanks to a decision on the Palestinian side, and how attacks can resume without the unfinished wall stopping them.
Events of the recent Ramadan only strengthened these points. Masses of Palestinians who are regularly denied freedom of movement were given it for a brief period of time – and nothing happened. No attacks on Israelis registered, or breeches in national security noted. And then Ramadan ended, and most of these people are now once again trapped in the huge prison compound that is the West Bank, while few of them continue putting themselves at risk of arrest or injury as they sneak into Israel for work.
http://972mag.com/mass-entry-of-palestinians-into-israel-calls-for-new-approach-to-permit-regime/54981/