Work of UN employees impeded by delays at Israeli occupation checkpoints

Date: 08 / 05 / 2008 Time: 15:19
Bethlehem – Ma'an – exclusive report –

After receiving several complaints from UN officials about the treatment they receive at Israeli military checkpoints, Ma'an sent a reporter to monitor southern West Bank checkpoints. He found that Israeli soldiers at military checkpoints deliberately undermine UN employees and impede their activity.

UN employees travel to their working places in Jerusalem in buses with UN written on the side. However, Israeli soldiers do not hesitate to stop them and keep them waiting for a long time at checkpoints.

In March 2008, Israeli soldiers began to adopt a new way of checking UN employees from Bethlehem and Hebron in the southern West Bank when they head to their headquarters in Sheikh Jarrah in Jerusalem through the ‘tunnels’ checkpoint. Israeli soldiers began to order UN employees to step out of their buses to have their identity cards inspected, ignoring all the immunity and privileges that UN employees enjoy all over the world.

Israeli soldiers inspected every single UN vehicle more thoroughly than other cars. When employees complain, the inspection process is prolonged.

According to an official UN source in charge of Palestinian refuge camp affairs, the UN has lost more than 4,000 working hours (600 working days) during March due to inspections at Israeli checkpoints at the entrance to Jerusalem. 3,000 working hours were lost during April.

To circumvent the delays, UN employees use the Wadi Al-Nar road then enter Jerusalem from the east through Al-Za'ayim checkpoint which is a much greater distance than the more direct route through the ‘tunnel’ checkpoint which is only 15 minutes drive from their offices.

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