Thread by @theIMEU

THREAD: During the 1st intifada (Palestinian uprising) against Israel’s cruel & violent occupation, Israel set up military-manned barriers to Palestinian movement within the occupied West Bank & Gaza. These barriers, or military checkpoints, have only increased in number since.

The primary purpose of these checkpoints is to facilitate Israel’s illegal takeover of the occupied Palestinian territories, serving as a tool of control and oppression to deny Palestinians the ability to live freely on their own land.

Since they were first erected by Israel, checkpoints have served to suffocate, humiliate, & collectively punish millions of Palestinians. Currently, there are nearly 600 Israeli military checkpoints & other physical barriers to Palestinian movement in the occupied West Bank.

Checkpoints cut off Palestinians’ access to each other. In order to travel between towns, Israel forces Palestinians to pass through tiny, overcrowded checkpoints manned by occupation soldiers who may arbitrarily deny Palestinians passage, dehumanizing and humiliating them.

A trip that should only take 20 minutes based on distance can take hours for Palestinians as they are made to wait in long lines and potentially pass through multiple checkpoints just to travel on their own land.

The wait at checkpoints can take so long, and occupation soldiers can be so cruel, that Palestinian women have actually been forced to give birth at checkpoints, as it is near impossible for many Palestinians to access a hospital without crossing at least one checkpoint.

Between September 2000 and December 2004, 67 Palestinian women were forced to give birth at checkpoints, and 36 of their babies died as a result. un.org/unispal/docume…

Checkpoints, in addition to humiliating and constricting occupied Palestinians, have become death-traps. Aside from women giving birth, Palestinians now are routinely murdered by Israeli soldiers at checkpoints.

Just recently, Israeli occupation soldiers shot and killed Palestinian Osama Sidqi Mansur, father of 5 young children, as he was passing through a checkpoint with his wife, who was also shot.

Last year, Palestinian Ahmed Erekat was shot six times at a checkpoint by Israeli occupupation soliders. They watched him die slowly as they denied him medical care. It was his sister’s wedding day.

Checkpoints are cruel and inhumane, dehumanizing & collectively punishing Palestinians in the West Bank for decades. The physical and emotional toll they have on Palestinians cannot be overstated.

Here is a photo essay showcasing the brutal reality of checkpoints. interactive.aljazeera.com/aje/2018/commu…