The Ramallah-Birzeit main road after Israeli authorities destroyed it

March 7, 2001 (update: March 8, 2001)

On the eve of Sharon’s swearing in at the Knesset, the Israeli military authorities have been exercising harsh methods by blocking more roads in towns and cities in the West Bank, making it almost impossible for people to commute.At around midnight last night, the authorities went a step further, and dug up two trenches in between Ramallah and Birzeit, cutting it off completely from the outside world. In addition to the trenches, the authorities broke off water pipes and cut off the telephone lines, prohibiting any kind of communication between the residents. The two trenches are about 4 meters long, three meters wide, with a depth of 3 meters each. Beyond the two trenches, the bulldozer ruined another 100 meters of the road, by removing the asphalt, and digging up the road. The only way for people to reach Ramallah is to walk along the edges of the trenches, and take a car going in that direction. The trenches and the ruined road fall in Area B.

The students and staff of Birzeit University are on a four-day holiday due to the Eid Al-Adha. The staff are supposed to come back to the University on Saturday, March 10, while the students are due back on the 17th of March when the second semester starts.

If the trenches are not closed off before Saturday, the staff will not be able to reach the University. All the roads leading to the University from Al-Jalazon and northward have been closed for months, and the road dug up was the only link between the villages of Surda, Abu Kash, Birzeit, Jifna, Kobar and other villages with Ramallah.

Birzeit University condemns this act perpetrated by the Israeli authorities, and considers it an act of inhumanity and cruelty, aiming at imprisoning thousands of people in their own homes and towns, while at the same time prohibiting the students of Birzeit University from reaching the University campus to pursue their education.

The Ramallah-Birzeit main road: two Israeli-dug trenches and destruction in between March 8, 2001:
The road to Birzeit is still closed, and thousands of people are imprisoned in their own homes. Today, even worse than yesterday, four armored vehicles are patrolling the area where the trenches were dug, and people are forbidden to even cross on foot. So far, none of the residents of that area know what is going on, and why the Israeli authorities have gone to such extreme and inhumane measures.

Source: Birzeit University