op-ed: Ben Gvir: Freedom of movement for settlers and tightening the screws on the Palestinians

Within the framework of the racist occupation government's policy to perpetuate the apartheid regime that it is working to consolidate in the occupied Palestinian territories, the extremist Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir considered that his and his family's right to movement in the occupied West Bank exceeds the right of Palestinian Arabs to freedom of movement in the region. This came in an interview with Ben Gvir on Wednesday evening, 8/23/2023, to the Israeli news channel, and he added that "the right of settlers to move in the West Bank exceeds the right of Arabs."

It is noteworthy that Ben Gvir resides in the Kiryat Arba settlement in Hebron, in the southern West Bank, and heads the far-right Jewish Power Party. He calls for imposing restrictions on the movement of Palestinians in the West Bank to prevent acts of resistance against gangs of Israeli settlers.

According to the latest statistics of the Israeli "Peace Now" movement, about 700,000 settlers live in 146 settlements and 146 random outposts built on the lands of the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem in 1967.

According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the number of Palestinians in the West Bank reached about 3.2 million by the end of 2022.

In a related context to Ben Gvir's racist statements, the Israeli Minister of Jerusalem Affairs and Heritage, Amichai Eliyahu, called for the annexation of the occupied West Bank as soon as possible, at a time when the Israeli Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, called for tightening the screws on the Palestinians.

Eliyahu considered that "the Green Line, which defines the lands occupied by Israel in 1967, does not exist and is imaginary."

"Sovereignty should be applied to the areas of Judea and Samaria" (using the Israeli name for the West Bank), claiming, "This is our homeland."

Eliyahu added that this should be implemented "as quickly as possible and as intelligently as possible." The Israeli government did not comment on these statements. The application of Israeli sovereignty means annexation, according to the definitions of the Israeli parties.

The positions of the Israeli parties that make up the government vary on the idea of annexation. While the Likud party - led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - calls for the annexation of large parts of the West Bank, the "Jewish Power" and "Religious Zionism" parties call for the annexation of the entire West Bank.

The statements of Ben Gvir and other Israeli racist extremists reflect the policies of successive Israeli governments for several decades, and express the plans and policies of the occupation in the occupied Palestinian territories, whether those related to expanding settlements, annexing the West Bank and imposing Israeli sovereignty over it, giving the right and freedom of movement to settler gangs, and restricting The movement of the Palestinians, in their land, in violation of international law, resolutions of international legitimacy, and human rights law, and embodies the apartheid regime and the (apartheid) system that it enshrines throughout the occupied Palestinian territories.

There are border checkpoints such as the Al-Karama crossing between Jericho and Jordan, and there are internal barriers and obstacles between Palestinian cities, and there are no less than 26 barriers between the West Bank and the 48 territories, and there are 13 barriers for passage to Jerusalem, and there are barriers between the Gaza Strip and the 1948 lands. Most of these barriers are equipped With surveillance cameras, military towers, iron gates, inspection rooms, parking lots, and special lanes for searching cars and Palestinian citizens.

According to a report by the United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) issued in 2018, the occupation forces set up 140 checkpoints on which soldiers are stationed at all times or from time to time, 165 road gates where soldiers are not stationed (about half of these gates are closed under normal circumstances), and 149 earthen berms. And 251 uninhabited obstacles (roadblocks, trenches, earthen walls, etc.), through which they control the movement of Palestinian citizens between Palestinian cities. According to data published by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, there are 110 fixed military checkpoints currently occupied by the occupation, not including the military gates and crossings, in addition to about 120 flying checkpoints that the occupation erects weekly, all of which are sites of distress for citizens and traps for their arrest.

The West Bank has also been witnessing a state of extreme tension since 2022, as a result of the escalation practiced by the occupation army in Palestinian cities, camps, and towns. Since the beginning of this year, the number of martyrs has risen to more than 200, including 37 children and 11 women, according to data from the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

Ben Gvir's statements giving settlers an absolute right to move and move throughout the Palestinian lands, and denying them to the Palestinian citizens, are an expression of his racist vision, and represent an official policy of the racist, far-right occupation government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu. These statements received angry Palestinian and international reactions, as they contradict With international humanitarian law, human rights law, and international legitimacy resolutions.

Despite the importance of these responses, they are not sufficient to stop and deter them, as long as they do not turn into actual policy and practical steps to confront the racist occupation government that it practices against the Palestinians throughout the occupied Palestinian territories.