{"id":4809,"date":"2006-11-27T19:47:00","date_gmt":"2006-11-27T17:47:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2024-12-14T19:11:48","modified_gmt":"2024-12-14T17:11:48","slug":"epalestine-jerusalem-post-honor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/epalestine.ps\/sambahour\/2006\/11\/epalestine-jerusalem-post-honor\/","title":{"rendered":"JERUSALEM POST: Honor the agreement you signed (by DAOUD KUTTAB)"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Jerusalem Post Internet Edition  <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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Honor the agreement you signed  <\/strong><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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DAOUD KUTTAB , THE JERUSALEM POST      Nov. 26, 2006  <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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A little over a year ago, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Quartet envoy James Wolfensohn, Israeli defense minister Shaul Mofaz, the PA’s Muhammad Dahlan and the EU reached an agreement to allow Palestinians free movement in and out of the Gaza Strip.  <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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The Agreement on Movement and Access (AMA) signed on November 15, 2005 promised Palestinians freedom of movement of people and goods. A detailed fact sheet published by the Palestinian Monitoring Group shows that since last year, none of the agreement’s provisions have been fully implemented by Israel.  <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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The AMA sought to facilitate the movement of Palestinian people and goods between Gaza and Israel (through crossing points between the two areas); between Gaza and the West Bank (through bus and truck convoys running between the two parts of the occupied Palestinian territory); within Palestinian communities in the West Bank, including east Jerusalem (by working to dismantle the internal closure regime, which consists of hundreds of checkpoints and fixed obstacles to movement between Palestinian communities in the West Bank); between Gaza and the West Bank; and to third countries (by opening the Rafah crossing point between Gaza and Egypt, allowing Palestinians to build a seaport in Gaza, and allowing Gaza’s airport to reopen).  <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the Rafah crossing point has been open, since June 28, 2006, on only 13% of the days it was scheduled to be open. The UN office has also stated that since June 25, Israel has frequently prevented EU monitors from reaching the site, thereby forcing Rafah’s closure.  <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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IN JULY, seven Palestinians waiting to be let into Gaza from Egypt died as a result of heat and the absence of shelter. Under the AMA, Palestinian customs officials were supposed to inspect imports through Kerem Shalom. To date, Rafah is still closed to imports and Israel has not permitted Palestinian customs officials at Kerem Shalom.  <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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As to the Crossing Points Between Gaza and Israel, the AMA committed that Israel will "allow the number of trucks per day processed [for export] through Karni to reach 150 [by December 31 2005], and 400 by end-2006."  <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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In 2005, 90% of all Palestinian trade was with Israel, or through Israel, to markets in third countries. But since the signing of the AMA, according to the the Palestine Trade Center, Karni has been completely closed for export for over 155 of approximately 310 working days, or roughly 50% of the time. And since the signing of the AMA, an average of 18 trucks per day have been processed through Karni for export.  <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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Agricultural products from Gaza during the 2005 harvest season (which were sold in winter 2006) rotted in Gaza as they were stuck on the border. According to estimates by Paltrade and the United States Agency for International Development, the losses resulting from Karni’s closure during the 2005 harvest season were estimated at $600,000 per day, of which agricultural losses stood at $400,000 per day.  <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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A LINK between Gaza and the West Bank is vital for the Palestinian economy. Neither area alone possesses the characteristics to be economically and independently viable. Together, however, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank economically complement one other: Gaza has an airport, access to the sea, and natural gas reserves, while the West Bank has water resources, room for development, and the international market of east Jerusalem.  <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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Israel had agreed to implement a more robust convoy provision under the Oslo Accords. But Israel called off discussions regarding implementation of the convoy provision shortly after the AMA was concluded, and refused to recommence discussions. As a result, and in direct violation of the AMA, no truck or bus convoys between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip have operated. Israel also refuses to discuss the establishment of a permanent road link between the West Bank and Gaza.  <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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In the occupied West Bank, millions of Palestinians are restricted in their movement – entirely within Palestinian territory – for the benefit of 430,000 Israeli settlers illegally residing on Palestinian land. Restrictions on movement include a stringent permit regime, roadblocks, checkpoints, and Israel’s Wall – built primarily inside the occupied West Bank.  <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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FINALLY, according to the AMA agreement worked out by Rice and her Quartet partners, "The parties agree on the importance of the airport." Again on this issue Israel has refused to discuss the reopening of Gaza’s airport since the signing of the agreement.  <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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While Israel has used the capture of one of its soldiers as an excuse for the continuous disruption of Palestinian movement, there is no doubt that what Israel has been doing is a collective punishment and therefore a war crime according to international humanitarian law.  <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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It is not surprising, then, to hear people like United Nations official John Dugard saying: "Gaza is a prison and Israel seems to have thrown away the key."  <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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In a November 14 press release issued by senior PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat, he made the connection between the current crisis and the restriction on the movement of Palestinians. "We would not be in the intense crisis we are in today had the [Agreement on Movement and Access] been implemented," he said.  <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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The writer is director of the Institute of Modern Media at Al-Kuds University in Ramallah.  <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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This article can also be read at  <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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Copyright 1995-2006 The Jerusalem Post – http:\/\/www.jpost.com\/<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Jerusalem Post Internet Edition  Honor the agreement you signed  DAOUD KUTTAB , THE JERUSALEM POST      Nov. 26, 2006  A little over a year ago, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Quartet envoy James Wolfensohn, Israeli defense minister Shaul Mofaz, the PA’s Muhammad Dahlan and the EU reached an agreement to allow Palestinians free movement […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":"","_ppma_block_editor_authors":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[936],"class_list":["post-4809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"authors":[{"term_id":936,"user_id":4,"is_guest":0,"slug":"sambahour","display_name":"Sam Bahour","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bca109c333bf6d8ae807746dd512adde46265d37c923f6cd0fc4aab437f8e9aa?s=96&d=mm&r=g","author_category":"1","first_name":"Sam","last_name":"Bahour","user_url":"https:\/\/epalestine.ps\/sambahour","job_title":"","description":"

Sam Bahour<\/strong> is a Palestinian-American business consultant, writer, and commentator based in Al-Bireh\/Ramallah, Palestine. He is the principal of Applied Information Management (AIM)<\/a>, a consultancy specializing in business development and startup advisory services.<\/p>\r\n

Bahour was instrumental in establishing two of Palestine\u2019s publicly traded companies: the Palestine Telecommunications Company (PALTEL) and the Arab Palestinian Shopping Centers (APSC). He co-founded Americans for a Vibrant Palestinian Economy (A4VPE), of which he is now an emeritus member, and served as an independent director on the board of Arab Islamic Bank P.L.C. from 2004 to 2025. He currently serves on the board of Just Vision<\/a> and The Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute (MAS)<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n

He frequently gives talks to delegations visiting Palestine on the subjects of Palestine\u2019s political economy, Palestinian Politics 101, and a general orientation to the state of affairs under Israeli military occupation.<\/p>\r\n

A prolific writer on Palestinian affairs, Bahour has been published in major international outlets including The New York Times, The Guardian, Haaretz, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, the Los Angeles Times, Al Jazeera America, Le Monde diplomatique, Al-Monitor, +972 Magazine, The Hill, and Arab News. He has appeared as a commentator on NPR, CNN, BBC, and other broadcast media.<\/p>\r\n

Bahour is the co-editor of Homeland: Oral Histories of Palestine and Palestinians<\/a><\/em> (Olive Branch Press, 1993) and was profiled in the bestselling anthology Kingdom of Olives and Ash<\/a><\/em>, edited by Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman, in a chapter authored by Chabon titled \u201cThe Tallest Man in Ramallah<\/a>.\u201d He holds an Associate\u2019s and Bachelor\u2019s degree in Computer Technology from Youngstown State University, and a Kellogg-Recanati International Executive MBA \u2014 a joint program of the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and the Recanati Business School at Tel Aviv University.<\/p>\r\n

He tweets at @SamBahour<\/a>, blogs at www.epalestine.ps<\/a>, and may be reached at sbahour[AT]gmail[DOT]com.<\/p>"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/epalestine.ps\/sambahour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/epalestine.ps\/sambahour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/epalestine.ps\/sambahour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epalestine.ps\/sambahour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epalestine.ps\/sambahour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4809"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/epalestine.ps\/sambahour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4809\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/epalestine.ps\/sambahour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epalestine.ps\/sambahour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epalestine.ps\/sambahour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4809"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epalestine.ps\/sambahour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=4809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}