March 17, 2005
Erica Silverman
Jericho, West Bank - On Wednesday Israel officially returned the West Bank city of Jericho to Palestinian control. After a series of negotiations over a legal technicality the agreement was signed and Israeli officially opened the two major checkpoints to the north and the south of the city, although the opening is conditional.
“Nothing is permanent; it depends upon the ability of the Palestinians to maintain security in the area,” stated Colonel Mordechai Almoz, Israel’s commander for the Jordan Valley area after shaking hands with Ahmad Eid, the Palestinian security commander for the Jericho area, outside of the main District Coordination Office (DCO) checkpoint.
The handover of Jericho was delayed for weeks because of disagreements over the size of the area and Israel's refusal to remove its checkpoint.
Colonel Almoz and Ahmad Eid signed the Jericho agreement on Wednesday afternoon and the DCO checkpoint to the south of the city was opened thereafter. Israeli soldiers dismantled the Ein ad-Duyuk checkpoint north of the city on the main access road between Jericho and Ramallah, now the center of Palestinian government and commerce, allowing greater freedom of movement between the two cities. However, to the northwest of Jericho on the same access road, about seven kilometers closer to Ramallah, rests the At Tayba checkpoint still manned by Israeli soldiers.
As of Wednesday afternoon the DCO checkpoint is open to those entering Jericho and random identification checks will be made for those departing, according to the agreement. Bulldozers circumferenced the area removing the concrete blocks that had previously served as barricades. It took some time to convey the orders but shortly after cars were moving into the city with ease. Palestinians stopped their vehicles to present their ID cards and with surprise were waved through by the Israeli soldiers still manning the checkpoint.
The checkpoints will remain for the next three to four weeks when Israeli is scheduled to remove all road blocks from the area.
“This is just a minor step toward resolving the real issues such as settlement expansion and the establishment of East Jerusalem as a Palestinian capitol,” stated the local DCO Commander, known as Abu Kladoun, outside the checkpoint.
Many Palestinians viewed the handover as inconsequential since Israeli solders were not present in Jericho before the handover and felt the checkpoint should have been removed some time ago.
Entering Israel, busloads of Palestinians clapped and cheered as they moved through the checkpoint freely. Children hanging out of the windows waved and displayed the “V” for victory symbol with their hands. Everyone, including foreigners, is subject to the random ID checks entering Israel.
Palestinian security forces set up their own checkpoint less than one kilometer from the Israeli DCO. Upon entering Jericho one is now greeted by fluttering Palestinian flags and uniformed Palestinian officers. Palestinian security waving cars through, controlling access to their own city gave the impression of a nascent Palestinian state, although Israel still controls all north and south bound traffic to the city.
The Palestinian soldiers exhibited a sense of pride as an older gentleman shouted from his car, “May God help you with your work young man,” as he crossed the checkpoint.
For more than four years, since the eruption of the Intifada in 2000, Israeli forces have stringently controlled all access to and from Jericho, effectively stifling the cities economy that was heavily dependent upon tourism. The area within the municipality limits is about 45 square kilometers and the population of Jericho proper is 18,000; 26,000 including the surrounding villages and refugee camps.
At a summit in the Egyptian resort of Sharm al-Sheikh Egypt on February 8, Israeli Prime Minister Sharon and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas agreed to a ceasefire, a vital first step towards a resumption of the peace process. The security handover of Jericho and four other West Bank cities, Ramallah, Bethlehem, Qalqilya, and
Tulkarm also emanated from the summit. Tulkarm is scheduled to be handed over later this week.
Israel has released several hundred prisoners but to date has only withdrawn from one of the five cities as promised. Under the watchful eye of the media Israeli opened the checkpoints, but the real test is to see if they remain open in the coming days.
On Tuesday evening Abbas began negotiations with a dozen Palestinian factions in Cairo which represents the latest effort to achieve a political consensus between Palestinian factions and to declare an official one-year ceasefire with Israel.
