Center for the Defence of the Individual - HaMoked petitioned the HCJ on behalf of four heads of local councils to order the military to remove a roadblock: the roadblock serves no real purpose, causes disruptions and infringes on the rights of the Palestinian residents
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חזרה לעמוד הקודם
21.10.2010

HaMoked petitioned the HCJ on behalf of four heads of local councils to order the military to remove a roadblock: the roadblock serves no real purpose, causes disruptions and infringes on the rights of the Palestinian residents

In 2002 the military placed large concrete blocks and installed an iron gate at the spot known as "the post junction", closing off the road that connects the villages of Ni'lin, Deir Qaddis and Kharbatha Bani Harith to Ramallah, the nearest major city. The unmanned roadblock considerably extends the way to Ramallah; the residents are left with two possible routes to the city: the first is an undeclared makeshift road linking Kharbatha to Bil'in through Kafr Ni'ma, Deir Ibzi' and 'Ein 'Arik, on to Ramallah. This is a circuitous and hazardous route, rife with accidents, which passes through private lands. The alternative is six times longer than the original route, and lies close to the settlements of Nili and Na'ale.

The roadblock impedes the daily lives of more than 10,000 local residents - patients, workers and students who struggle to reach their destinations - yet serves no real purpose. Palestinians can travel on either side of it, so many travel by car up to the roadblock, then walk passed it and continue to Ramallah by public transportation. Absurdly enough, the roadblock compromises the likely purpose for it –to diminish friction between Palestinians and settlers under the guise of security – given that the residents are now forced to travel on the road near the settlements of Nili and Na'ale.

Additionally, the roadblock harms the inhabitants of the Ras Karkar village, forcing them to travel many kilometers to reach their farmlands across the roadblock. 

The villages' council heads appealed several times to the Palestinian coordination officers, requesting their intervention, and even participated in meetings on the subject held with officers of the Israeli District Coordination Office, who promised to look into the matter. Still the roadblock remained intact. On July 19, 2010 HaMoked appealed to the legal advisor for the West Bank, requesting him to promote the removal of roadblock. No reply arrived for three months, and so, on October 14, 2010, HaMoked petitioned the High Court of Justice on behalf of the four council heads of the affected villages to order the military to remove the roadblock at once.

HaMoked argues in its petition that the military violates the villagers' freedom of movement on a daily basis using this roadblock - its aim unclear as is the authority for its construction. The roadblock severely, unreasonably and disproportionately infringes on the rights of the petitioners and the inhabitants they represent to dignity, freedom of movement, family life, health, education, freedom of occupation and property, all recognized as basic rights under both Israeli and international law. 

HaMoked demands the swift removal of the roadblock, which serves no other purpose than harassing the inhabitants and violating of their rights.