Crippling Gaza checkpoint to go in settlers' wake
Reuters
Date: 08-21-05
By Mohammed Assadi
ABU HOLY CHECKPOINT, Gaza Strip (Reuters) - Tawfiq al-Balawi stretched out on a blanket laid in the road beside his truck and propped his head up to sip tea, killing time until Israel soldiers reopened the main checkpoint in central Gaza.
Palestinians like al-Balawi hope that years of delays at the Abu Holy Checkpoint on Gaza's main north-south road will soon end with Israel carrying out its promised evacuation of Jewish settlers from the occupied territory.
The checkpoint, close to an overpass used by settlers traveling between their nearby bloc of enclaves and Israel, was established to minimise the threat of Palestinian militant attacks on Israeli traffic.
Whenever soldiers have shut Abu Holy or reduced Palestinian traffic there to an exhaustively inspected crawl following an attack or security alert, the narrow Gaza Strip has been split in two -- with ruinous consequences for local trade and travel.
Al-Balawi was in the middle of hundreds of cars stretching back for three km (1.8 mile long) on Sunday because Israel was continuing to evacuate settlers via the overpass from their Gush Katif bloc.
But once both the settlers and soldiers are out, expected in October, the infamous Abu Holy tailbacks will be no more.
Al-Balawi, who was ferrying chickens from Gaza City to Rafah, has become practiced at preparing for stalled trips between north and south Gaza. He brings "checkpoint essentials" like a blanket, a small camping stove, coffee, fruit and biscuits.
"(Before conflict with Israel erupted in 2000), I never carried these things because the trip was no more than half an hour. Now it may take 10 hours or even more," he said, drinking his tea and drawing on a cigarette.
"We love peace but Palestinians have attacked them (settlers) because they occupy our land. Once they leave, we can live in peace again," Balawi said.
"We cannot wait to see them swept from our land. At least then we won't be waiting all this time at roadblocks any more," said Hani Abu Shaab, another truck driver, as he played cards.
Some motorists and passengers were smoking water pipes.
"This checkpoint got me addicted to water pipes. I'd never done it before," said taxi driver Jawad Nasrallah, 46.
He also brings along a makeshift kitchen in case he gets hungry at Abu Holy. "You never know when the Israelis will open it. I hope now that we won't see them here ever again."
In the five years since Palestinians launched a revolt, Abu Holy was frequently closed for hours or days on end.
Ninety-five percent of the 8,500 Jewish settlers who lived among 1.4 million Palestinians in Gaza had gone by Sunday under Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan for "disengaging" from conflict in territory where Palestinians seek a state.
Palestinians welcome Israel's withdrawal but still worry that Sharon's underlying aim is to strengthen Israel's hold on much bigger settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Source
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