checkpointwest

westbankunrwawestbankidholdersstrandedonthe"jerusalem"sideofthebarrierunitednationsreliefandworksagencyforpalestinerefugeesintheneareastwww.
unrwa.
orgAfterthe1967IsraelioccupationoftheWestBankandEastJerusalem,andIsrael'sunilateralexpansionofJerusalem'smunicipalboundary,theStateofIsraelconductedacensusofallresidentslivinginthecity.
AllPalestinianslivingwithinJerusalem'smunicipalbordersweregranted"residencystatus"andgivenidentitycardspopularlyreferredtoas"blueIDs"duetothecolourofthecards'plasticcase.
PalestinianslivingintherestoftheWestBankatthetimeofthecensuswereissuedidentitycardsingreenplasticcasesknownas"greenIDs".
JerusalemiteswhofoundthemselvesoutsideofthecitybutwithintheWestBankortheGazaStripatthetimeofthecensusweredeniedJerusalemresidencystatusandalsoissued"greenIDs",whilethosewhowereoutsideoftheOccupiedPalestinianTerritoryweredeniedanyformofresidencyaltogether.
AlthoughEastJerusalemispartoftheWestBank,only"greenIDs"arereferredtobytheIsraeliAuthoritiesas"WestBank"identitycards.
Identitycardsweredistributedbasedonboundariesdrawnbythe1949ArmisticeLine,theinternationally-recognizeddemarcationoftheWestBankcommonlyreferredtoasthe"GreenLine".
However,therouteoftheBarrier(whoseconstructionstartednearlyfourdecadesafterthe1967war)deviatesfarfromthisline,especiallyintheareaaroundJerusalem.
Asaresult,ittrapsanestimated1,600WestBankIDholdersonthe"Jerusalem"sideoftheBarrier,bothwithintheJerusalemmunicipalareaandinAreaC.
restrictionsonaccessandmovementMostWestBankIDholderslivingonthe"Jerusalem"sideoftheBarriermustgothroughanumberofmechanismsinordertoaccesstherestoftheWestBank.
Forsomecommunities,acoordinationsystemhasbeensetupthatrequiresindividualstoregistertheirIDcardsandaddressesatadesignatedcheckpoint.
OthersmustobtainspecialpermitsinordertoliveintheirhomesandtobegrantedaccesstocrosstheBarrier.
However,certainhouseholdshavenotbeengrantedthisaccess.
BecausetheywereissuedIDswhichnolongerdirectlycorrespondtothelocationoftheirhomesaftertheBarrier'sconstruction,theIsraeliAuthoritiesconsiderthemtobe"illegal",andtheyareatconstantriskofbeingdetainedand/orexpelledtotheWestBanksideoftheBarrier.
Facingeffectivedeportation,Palestinianswithinthiscategoryareextremelyisolated.
Forexample,shouldtheyfindawaytocrosstothe"WestBank"sideoftheBarrierinthecaseofanemergency,theyfindthemselvesunabletolegallyreturntotheirhomes.
economicimpactDuetotheirresidencystatusandtheimpactoftheBarrier,only45percentofhouseholdsofWestBankIDholdersinJerusalemhaveafamilymemberinfull-timeemployment.
ThesituationisevenworseforWestBankID-holdersinJerusalemwhoarealsorefugees:ofthesehouseholdsonly30.
4percenthaveamemberemployedfull-time.
MostWestBankIDholdersontheJerusalemsideoftheBarriermustthereforerelyonoccasionalunskilledworkopportunities.
Moreover,asaresultoftheBarrier,themainbread-winnerhaschangedjobsinover50percentofnon-refugeeand56.
5percentofrefugeehouseholds.
Three-quartersofallWestBankIDhouseholdsandasignificantlyhigher95.
7percentofrefugeeUNRWAisaUnitedNationsagencyestablishedbytheGeneralAssemblyin1949andismandatedtoprovideassistanceandprotectiontoapopulationofsome5millionregisteredPalestinerefugees.
ItsmissionistohelpPalestinerefugeesinJordan,Lebanon,Syria,WestBankandtheGazaStriptoachievetheirfullpotentialinhumandevelopment,pendingajustsolutiontotheirplight.
UNRWA'sservicesencompasseducation,healthcare,reliefandsocialservices,campinfrastructureandimprovement,microfinanceandemergencyassistance.
UNRWAisfundedalmostentirelybyvoluntarycontributions.
unitednationsreliefandworksagencyforpalestinerefugeesintheneareastwww.
unrwa.
orghouseholdsexperiencedadeclineinearningcapacityduetotheirlackofaJerusalemresidencystatusandgeographicalisolationresultingfromtheBarrier.
healthWestBankIDholdersontheJerusalemsideoftheBarrieralsostruggletoaccesshealthcare.
AlthoughWestBankIDholderscanstillphysicallyaccesshospitalsinthecity,itisillegalforthemtodoso.
However,whenaccessinghospitalsontheWestBanksideoftheBarrier,theyneedtopassthroughacheckpoint,increasingthetime,distanceandcostrequiredtoaccessthesefacilities.
WestBankIDholdersalsostruggletoreceiveambulanceservices.
Palestinian-runambulancesrequirepriorcoordinationwiththeIsraeliCivilAdministrationbeforebeingabletoreachcommunitiesontheJerusalemsideoftheBarrier.
Thiscoordinationtypicallytakestimeanddelaysthetransportofpatients,eveninurgentcases.
Insomeinstances,aback-to-backprocedure(inwhichapatientneedstobetransferredfromoneambulancetoanotheratthecheckpoint)isneededbecausePalestinianambulancesarenotpermittedtocross;puttingpatientsatadditionalriskandunderincreasedstresswhenseekingmedicalattention.
educationSincetheconstructionoftheBarrier,37.
1percentofallWestBankID-holderhouseholdshadatleastonechildchangetheirprimaryschool.
Inthecaseofrefugees,thisisexacerbated:44.
4percentofWestBankID-holdingrefugeesontheJerusalemsideoftheBarrierhadtochangetheirsourceofeducation.
Over35percentofallWestBankID-holderhouseholdschangedtheirchildren'ssecondaryeducation.
AlmosthalfofallWestBankIDholderhouseholdsreportedamoderatetoseveredeteriorationintheeducationalperformanceoftheirchildren,and65.
8percentsaidtheirchildrenlostthemotivationtoattendschoolaftertheconstructionoftheBarrier.
Typically,thenumbersofrefugeehouseholdsaffectedarehigherthanthenorm,with66.
7percentstatingafallinperformanceand77.
8percentofrefugeechildrenexpressingadeclineintheirmotivation.
psychosocialimpactThepsychosocialsituationofWestBankIDholdersisolatedontheJerusalemsideoftheBarrierhasdeterioratedsubstantiallyduetothepressuresofdailyliferesultingfromtheirprecariousresidencysituationandinabilitytoaccessservices.
95percentofWestBankIDholderhouseholdsreportedadeclineintheemotionalwell-beingofadultssincethecompletionoftheBarrier.
Ofthesehouseholds,92percentreportedasimilardeteriorationinthewellbeingoftheirchildren.
Thefigureismorestrikingamongrefugeeswhere100percentofhouseholdsreportedexperiencingadeteriorationofemotionalwell-beinginbothadultsandchildren.
protectionanddisplacementWestBankID-holderslivingontheJerusalemsideoftheBarrierfaceacutehardshipandthepressureontheirhouseholdscanbeintolerable.
MostWestBankIDholderscitetheBarrieranditsassociatedgateandpermitregimeasamainsourceofstressintheirlives.
TheBarrieranditsassociatedmeasuressuchaspermitsandcheckpointscausestressbydramaticallyreducingtheeconomicopportunitiesandaccesstoservicessuchashealthandeducationinEastJerusalem.
WestBankIDholdersarealsomorevulnerabletoharassmentatcheckpointsduetotheirprecariousresidencysituation.
Around16percentofallWestBankID-holdersontheJerusalemsideoftheBarrierreportedthatthesepressuresleadthemtoconsiderleavingintheirhomesandcommunities.
OftheWestBankIDholderhouseholdssurveyed,14.
5percentreportedthatatleastonememberofthehouseholdhadalreadyleftasaresultoftheBarrieranditsassociatedregime.
1StatisticaldatafromUNRWA'sBarrierMonitoringUnit's2011surveyofWestBankIDholdersonthe"Jerusalem"sideoftheBarriercomprisingof94householdscontaining665individuals.