Instead of a Gateway to the World, Gaza Airport Is Just Another Israeli Checkpoint

By Maureen Meehan

The excitement that accompanied the opening of the Gaza International Airport in December faded almost before the red carpets were rolled up and stored away.

A series of incidents have served to remind Palestinians and their Arab neighbors who use the airport that so long as Israel has the final word on security clearances and on the vital decisions over who can come and go, the airport is just another Israeli checkpoint.

On Jan. 8, Magid Nadi Abu Sidu found that out when he became the first Palestinian to be arrested at the airport by Israeli security forces upon his arrival in Gaza from Egypt.

Actually, Mr. Abu Sidu was arrested at the Rafah crossing that lies between Egypt and the Gaza Strip. Due to the fact that the joint Israeli-Palestinian security building at the airport is not yet finished, arriving and departing passengers must be bused some 10 miles to the Rafah checkpoint, where they undergo the usual rigorous Israeli security checks.

“The busing routine is a waste of time and a humiliation but I never expected much more from this airport, which, in reality, is under Israeli control,” said Elias A., a Palestinian travel agent who asked that his name and agency not be named.

“Even when the joint security apparatus is operating at the airport, there will likely be problems with Israel over who can come and go,” he said. “We have no control over our borders and as we come close to the millennium, it will become even more painfully evident as we try to plan for tourists expected to visit here for the Bethlehem 2000 celebrations.”

The initial euphoria over the airport opening was tempered by these facts, although some Palestinians held out hope that joint security checks might ultimately lead to reasonable cooperation. However, the opposite has occurred.

Freedom of movement, or lack thereof, has always been a sore subject in the Gaza Strip—at times referred to by Gazans as the “world’s largest open-air prison.” The vast majority of Gaza’s nearly one million Palestinians live under closure. The number of Palestinian workers with work permits to enter Israeli industrial zones, conveniently located within several miles of the Gaza Strip, fluctuates from 80,000 to 10,000 to none at all.

With speculation growing about when and if a Palestinian state will be declared, many people in Gaza believe the declaration will be treated in much the same way as the opening of the Gaza airport: red carpets, crowds, speeches, banners, flags—and then back to the closure with its stifling lack of freedom of movement.

Freedom of movement is so closely tied to sovereignty that it is no surprise that Israel has remained in strict control of all borders into the Gaza Strip from Egypt and into the West Bank from Jordan.

Palestinians lament the fact that during these past five years of negotiations the key issue of freedom of movement has continually been put off until final status negotiations. Hussam Khader, Palestinian Legislative Council member from Nablus, says the reason Palestinian negotiators fail to demand solutions to the problem is simple: it does not affect them.

“They all have VIP passes to come and go as they please. They enter Israel at will and travel from Israeli airports,” said Khader. “They are more and more out of touch with reality and now, after five years of negotiations, it shows.”

West Bank Palestinians who travel abroad often drive to Jordan and then fly from Amman. Some manage to get special permits to leave from Israel’s international airport. The permits, difficult to obtain, generally allow travelers a period of four to five hours to get from their homes to the airport in time for the three-hour check-in. Those caught in Israel before or beyond the time specified on their airport permit will never receive another one and will certainly end up in jail.

“It is so nerve-wracking. We feel like we have to rush through Israel to get to the airport before we get caught doing something perfectly normal anywhere else in the world,” said a Palestinian dentist, growing anxious at a checkpoint on his way to catch a flight to a conference in London.

“But flying out of Gaza is not an option either…I have no permit to enter Gaza,” he added. “In fact, I haven’t been to the Gaza Strip for years, or to Jerusalem for that matter, and it’s only 20 minutes from my home. I’ll pass through it today, but I can’t stop!” The “safe passage” route between Gaza and the West Bank has to be worked out in negotiations as well.

Meanwhile, the largely unobserved border agreement between Israel and the PA regarding Palestinian crossing points and the airport is supposed to be based on “respect for the Palestinian traveler…[and] invisibility of the Israeli presence.” The agreement prohibits either side from taking unilateral measures and states that Israeli investigation of all passengers should take place in co-ordination with and in the presence of Palestinian security authorities.

However, like most of the agreements signed over the years, there is a large gap between the paper and day-to-day reality. Documentation collected by the Palestinian Committee for Human Rights (PCHR) during 1998 states that more than 50 Gazans were arrested while on their way to or from the international crossings. Thirty-eight were arrested at the Rafah crossing to Egypt, several were arrested while entering the West Bank through Jordan and 11 people were arrested at Ben-Gurion airport near Tel Aviv. All of those detained were carrying valid documentation and permits.

“Mr. Abu Sidu is the first of a list that will grow as the airport traffic grows, if it does,” said Elias, the travel agent. He adds that even if official statistics on the number of those arrested are correct, although he swears it is higher, one must also take into account the large numbers of people who purchase plane tickets, make travel and personal arrangements, then never receive their airport permits.

“It happens so often and it’s enough to break your heart or make you crazy with anger—depending on your personality,” he chuckled, admitting that he has reacted both ways. He told the Washington Report about a group of Palestinian senior citizens who recently planned to travel to Greece. At the last minute, the whole trip fell through because the Israeli military commander in the West Bank simply refused to give the travelers permits to leave the West Bank.

“And these were all people in their 60s and 70s, most of whom lost money on deposits and other fees,” Elias explained.

The PCHR contends that the crossing points have gotten worse rather than better since the signing of the peace accords, and that specific Israeli measures in the name of security have caused, or allowed, the average Israeli soldier to be more contemptuous of Palestinian civilians in the areas where they most often clash: checkpoints and crossings.

“The PCHR believes that recent measures will have an impact on the increasing number of Palestinians who are being arrested at the crossings, especially in the aftermath of the opening of the [Gaza] airport,” according to a recent report.

The Rafah checkpoint, and now airport clearance, is the only entrance point between Egypt and the Gaza Strip. While the Oslo agreement gave the Palestinian Authority some control over this important crossing, like most joint Israeli-Palestinian arrangements the role of the latter is so limited as to be almost symbolic.

The importance of the Rafah crossing increased when the closure of the Gaza Strip to Israel became nearly total and seemingly permanent. Access to Israeli airports by Gazans is restricted in much the same way it is to West Bankers, although West Bankers have easier access to Jordan if they manage to get the proper permits to travel.

Palestinian passports now are being widely used among Gazans and West Bankers although not all countries accept them yet. Therefore it is worth noting that many Palestinians still travel abroad with an Israeli-issued laisser-passer that refers to the bearers as “residents” rather than citizens. The document is issued to the traveler by the Israeli military authority along with the travel permit only one day before the scheduled trip. The travel document must then be returned to the Israeli military post immediately upon return.

Palestinians who use their own passports, issued almost three years ago, must hand them in to the local military post for Israeli approval of the trip and necessary exit visas. The only difference is that the Palestinian holders can keep their passports in their possession upon return.

“There have been many occasions where I’ve taken a stack of passports in [to the military post] for a group trip and gotten them all back without any stamps or permits; no reason is ever given,” said the West Bank travel agent.

In addition to the lack of freedom of movement, the Palestinian economy continues to suffer under the current system of border crossings, since Israel regularly disrupts the free flow of goods in and out of Gaza on security pretexts.

“The role of tourism in our economy as well as the flow of goods in and out of Gaza and Jordan has not improved as we had hoped under the accords or with the Gaza airport,” said Elias. “In fact, Israel is more adamant about letting us know they are in charge of our borders, our economy, our freedom of movement [and] our lives.”

Maureen Meehan is a free-lance journalist who covers Jerusalem and the West Bank.