|
that have come to
characterize life in the West Bank and Gaza
Strip.
Palestinian
citizens have no choice but to pass through
Israeli military checkpoints in order to reach
places of work, study, and worship, to receive
medical care, to obtain basic goods and
services, and to visit family and friends.
Checkpoints are the source of inconveniences and
delays that render it exhausting, if not impossible,
for Palestinians to carry out the tasks of Daily
life. Moreover, they have been the sites
of arbitrary abuses of power and gratuitous uses
of violence against Palestinian citizens.
Far from the oversight of any restrictive
authority, checkpoint soldiers regularly commit
acts that range from confiscating identity cards
and car keys, forbidding travel and forcing
people to wait long hours in humiliating
positions, to firing tear gas and live
ammunition at unarmed civilians. On numerous
occasions soldiers have prevented emergency
vehicles, such as ambulances, from reaching
their destination, often resulting in the death
of the patient or, in the case of pregnant
mothers, the death of newborn babies.
As a team of
voluntary observers stationed at Israeli
military checkpoints, our goals are threefold:
- First, we aim
to put an end to human rights violations
transpiring at the checkpoints.
- Second, we
endeavor to expose these violations, both in
order to provide a check on soldiers'
actions and to encourage broader-based
regional and international condemnation.
- Third, through
this non-violent action, we are here to
advocate universal human rights in general,
and specifically to document the
Palestinians’ legitimate grievances to the
Israeli occupation
Like our goals,
our work means are also threefold. First,
we monitor checkpoint activity and
document the occurrence of abuses as well as the
identities of those responsible for perpetrating
them. Second, we attempt to intervene
as necessary and appropriate in an effort to
halt the incidents of mistreatment occurring
before us. Third, we disseminate reports
on these transgressions to a larger audience in
order to promote awareness and encourage action.
Through this
threefold strategy of monitoring, intervention,
and exposure, we hope to encourage Israeli
soldiers and citizens, as well as the
international community at large, to appreciate
the suffering of the Palestinian people and
hence understand the need to end the occupation
once and for all.
Volunteers
come from the following countries: Germany,
France, New Zealand, United States, Canada,
Sweden, Spain, Belgium, Norway, Holland, Great Britain,
Ireland, Italy, and others.
ICW
Home
|
