IDF source admits 44 barriers allegedly removed did not exist

[Tom Joad]

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/816346.html

The Israel Defense Forces admitted on Sunday that the 44 dirt obstacles it said had been removed from around West Bank villages did not actually exist.

Last Tuesday, the IDF announced that it had removed 44 dirt obstacles that blocked access roads to West Bank villages, to fulfill promises made by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas during their meeting a month ago. Olmert had pledged measures to ease the lives of Palestinian civilians.

However, a military source admitted on Sunday that these obstacles "had either been removed before the political level decided on the alleviations or had been bypassed by Palestinians earlier, and a decision had been made not to rebuild them."

This statement confirms a claim made recently by United Nations organizations operating in the territories: that most of these barriers were not removed, because they had not existed for months.
snip..

Now, for our bonus feature.

From Haaretz
Impossible travel By Amira Hass
All the promises to relax restrictions in the West Bank have obscured the true picture. A few roadblocks have been removed, but the following prohibitions have remained in place. (This information was gathered by Haaretz, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and Machsom Watch)

Standing prohibitions

* Palestinians from the Gaza Strip are forbidden to stay in the West Bank.

* Palestinians are forbidden to enter East Jerusalem.

* West Bank Palestinians are forbidden to enter the Gaza Strip through the Erez crossing.

* Palestinians are forbidden to enter the Jordan Valley.

* Palestinians are forbidden to enter villages, lands, towns and neighborhoods along the "seam line" between the separation fence and the Green Line (some 10 percent of the West Bank).

* Palestinians who are not residents of the villages Beit Furik and Beit Dajan in the Nablus area, and Ramadin, south of Hebron, are forbidden entry.

* Palestinians are forbidden to enter the settlements' area (even if their lands are inside the settlements' built area).

* Palestinians are forbidden to enter Nablus in a vehicle.

* Palestinian residents of Jerusalem are forbidden to enter area A (Palestinian towns in the West Bank).

* Gaza Strip residents are forbidden to enter the West Bank via the Allenby crossing.... more at link

comment: This would be funnier if there were not real human suffering involved. But when news of the (now we know, fictional) checkpoints/roadblocks were to be removed, there was some insinuation that those who did not praise this glorious breakthrough was proof positive we did not care about peace.

Personally, i think we should listen to Palestinians and let them tell us if there are improvements in their lives, not let the occupier tell us what is a "breakthrough". It is, after all, Palestinian lives that will change or not, they see the reality on the ground, and we do not. Nor do we usually here it from mainstream media, who for the most part stay in Jerusalem and read Israeli press releases. (This followup story, a piece of authentic journalism, is unlikely to be reported in the US mainstream press)

There are over 400 barriers throughout the West Bank.
Old post from misleading news from official Israel source:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=124x160873

[Poll_Blind]

1. Typical conniving of the Israeli government to promote the illusion of...

...progress. I'm floored by the revelation even though I already hold this conservative Israeli government in well-founded contempt.

PB