The occupation takes advantage of Corona .. double isolation of the stranded between Jerusalem and the West Bank

Juman Abu Arafa - Occupied Jerusalem

The Israeli occupation does not differentiate between the times of persecution. Even the new Corona virus (Covid-19) pandemic and the resulting emergency, exploited it to isolate thousands of Palestinians from the Palestinian identity holders who live within the so-called Jerusalem municipality borders.

These Palestinians are found in the village of Nabi Samuel, part of the villages of Qalandia and Hazma, and the Khalayleh neighborhood, within Jerusalem, with a residence permit whose validity has ceased following the outbreak of Corona, whereby any Palestinian from the Palestinian identity holders was prevented from entering Jerusalem.

This ban has left thousands of stranded people who were living in the West Bank, and will be isolated in their originally isolated homes. If they leave them to meet their needs or receive urgent medical services, they will not be allowed to return to their homes through the military checkpoints that tore apart their ties in cooperation with the Apartheid Wall.

Selective barrier
In front of her house, which was cut off by the separation wall from the village of Hazma, northeast of Jerusalem, Zainab Al-Khatib, 49, looks at the nearby Hazma military checkpoint and has been opened for vehicles in both directions, while she and forty members of her family cannot leave the checkpoint towards the West Bank or enter Jerusalem and move there. .

Zainab and her family do not have residence permits in Jerusalem, but their names are registered at the checkpoint, so they cannot receive visitors or unregistered relatives, and the occupation forces have previously arrested them because of their presence in Jerusalem.

Zainab says to Al Jazeera Net, "Our house has become a prison for us, my mother is an ill elderly, and I have three brothers with special needs, and we have family children around us. The Israeli link informed us on the 22 of last month that they would be closed for a whole month, so I tried to buy everything we needed, but the time did not Enough. "

Although she obtained a Palestinian permit to continue her work in a drug factory in Ramallah, she was cut off because the occupation did not recognize this statement, and she is concerned that her mother or siblings need urgent medical care, and that she needs long-distance traffic coordination.

Wall effects
The family of the seventy Sharif Awadallah is stuck today in her house in the Al-Matar neighborhood, east of the village of Qalandia, north of Jerusalem.

Awad Allah clarifies to Al Jazeera Net that he and his family have Palestinian health insurance, and when they need treatment they go to the West Bank via the Qalandiya or Atarot checkpoint, but with their permits suspended, they will not be able to go out to emergency treatment because they will not be allowed to return through the checkpoint, and if they want treatment in Jerusalem, they do not have health insurance Cover that.

Awadallah and his ilk from the stranded Palestinians do not like moving in the shadow of the Corona crisis, preferring to stay at home, but they are always concerned about their need for emergency health services that may put their lives on the line during the long hierarchical hours of coordination.

New old isolation
Northwest of Jerusalem there are also five hundred Palestinians stuck in the village of Nabi Samuel, which the occupation isolated before Corona from its surroundings from the Palestinian villages and set up a "pocket" checkpoint as a single outlet to these villages in one direction, where no one can enter the village of Nabi Samuel unless he is a resident of it and under the condition That his name be registered with the soldiers at the checkpoint.

A member of the Prophet’s Village Council, Samuel Muhammed Barakat, confirms to Al-Jazeera Net that the residents of his village carry the Palestinian identity, and that although their village is within the borders of the Jerusalem municipality, they are not allowed to enter it, and with the closure of the checkpoints completely in the face of Palestinians in the West Bank, the villagers, who will not be allowed to return Cross the pocket barrier if they go out.

Barakat continues, "Our cooperation with the Palestinian emergency committees in the neighboring villages who provide us with basic needs, where some vehicles are allowed to come out with lengthy coordination and specific hours. Previously, one of the village youths who had a pulmonary disease required the doctor and it took a long time for coordination to transport him outside the village, and if we even need to enter a gas jar. Or animal feed we need to coordinate. "

The isolation included Palestinian identity holders inside the wall in the Dahiyat al-Barid area, north of Jerusalem, and the Khalayleh district, northwest of Jerusalem, in addition to individuals who married Jerusalemites and lived inside the city with a “zero-reunification” type of permit, where their permits were also revoked.

Seize the epidemic
Medhat Diba, an expert on the law, explains to Al Jazeera Net that many of the positive laws that apply to individuals are not applied in emergency situations resulting from wars or epidemics, but it is assumed that the minimum human rights are preserved, which is ignored by the Israeli occupation.

"There is no supervisory authority over the executive in the event of an emergency, and in the case of those stranded with Palestinian identity holders in Jerusalem, there is no legal guarantee for the occupation to allow them to leave and return via checkpoints. The occupation also takes advantage of the state of emergency and the Corona epidemic to restrict These Palestinians are achieving political goals. "

Preach the solution
In an attempt to communicate the voice of the stranded and draw attention to their case, especially in the health aspect, where they are unable to go out to receive treatment in the West Bank because of the closure and are not covered by health insurance inside Jerusalem if they can reach its hospitals, Al Jazeera Net has contacted the Jerusalem Hospitals Network and the Jerusalem Rally to confront Corona.

Spokesmen for the Jerusalemite Assembly for Al-Jazeera Net said that the six Palestinian hospitals in Jerusalem will not be closed to any Palestinian identity holders and they will be treated free of charge in cases of coronavirus infection and other urgent medical cases, even if they are not covered by health insurance.

The Secretary of the East Jerusalem Hospitals Network, Walid Namour, reassured these Palestinians on Al-Jazeera Net that Al-Mutlaa Hospital - which he heads - will never return a patient he intends, and that he has contacted with the rest of the hospitals in order to develop a plan to treat them and reduce their isolation, even if medically.