We had gone to meet Red Crescent workers in the hope of establishing links between the branch and grassroots groups in Brighton. The paramedics at the branch told us of how Israeli checkpoints and closures made it impossible to give their patients proper care. The road from Tubas to Nablus has recently been closed once again by the Israeli army, lenghtening the 20 minute journey to up to an hour and a half.
The paramedics also work shifts in the Jordan Valley. Israeli closures mean that the Jordan Valley has very little medical care because of the limits on numbers of Palestinians with permits to enter the valley.
In the picture below the detained man has been moved out of the shade into the direct sun by Israeli soldiers.
The first three photos in this report show a man blindfolded and held in the hot sun at Al Tayasir checkpoint in the northern Jordan valley. Tayasir is notorious for delay on Palestinans travelling through. Only Palestinians who have a house in the Jordan valley can travel through the checkpoint. The number of Palestinians residing in the valley is decreasing as there has been a ban on the building of new structures in all but two areas since 1967, the majority of Palestinians in the valley live in tents or clay structures.
Israeli Soldiers Checking IDs outside the Red Crescent in Tubas
This deliberate depopulation of the valley serves the Israelis well as a majority of the produce from Israeli settlements in the West Bank comes from the valley (60% of one company’s exports reach the UK). Al Tayasir is choking Palestinian agricultire in the valley as farmers have to reload their produce onto new vehicles at either side of the checkpoint. In contrast illegal Israeli settlers can export produce to Europe within 24 hours.
Causing disruption to patients trying to get medical care
In the Occupied West Bank
The second set of pictures show the IOF setting up a checkpoint outside the Red Crescent primary health centre in Tubas. The soldiers checked the IDs of patients attending the centre and delayed them receiving medical care. When the health workers complained the soldiers retorted that they were ‘lucky’ that they were standing outside the centre grounds.
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Homepage: http://www.brightonpalestine.org
The photos in this report came from a doctor at the Tubas branch of the Red Crescent.