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| Obama skips West Bank's daily grind on Middle East trip | Obama skips West Bank's daily grind on Middle East trip |
| (12 days later) | |
| Barack Obama's journey between leafy West Jerusalem and the dusty, rubbish-strewn Palestinian city of Ramallah took just six minutes through the clear blue skies aboard Marine One, the presidential helicopter, on Thursday morning. | Barack Obama's journey between leafy West Jerusalem and the dusty, rubbish-strewn Palestinian city of Ramallah took just six minutes through the clear blue skies aboard Marine One, the presidential helicopter, on Thursday morning. |
| On the ground, on a routine day, the picture is rather different. The approach from Ramallah to Qalandiya checkpoint, the main gateway between the two cities, is almost always clogged with cars, vans and buses queueing for inspection by Israeli soldiers. Foot passengers are herded through metal caged corridors and turnstiles to present their identity papers. Some are detained for questioning; some are turned back. | On the ground, on a routine day, the picture is rather different. The approach from Ramallah to Qalandiya checkpoint, the main gateway between the two cities, is almost always clogged with cars, vans and buses queueing for inspection by Israeli soldiers. Foot passengers are herded through metal caged corridors and turnstiles to present their identity papers. Some are detained for questioning; some are turned back. |
| The journey from one city to the other – seven miles apart – through the eight-metre-high concrete separation wall can take less than 30 minutes on an exceptionally good day; more often it stretches beyond two hours. | The journey from one city to the other – seven miles apart – through the eight-metre-high concrete separation wall can take less than 30 minutes on an exceptionally good day; more often it stretches beyond two hours. |
| Qalandiya is part of a network of checkpoints separating the West Bank from East Jerusalem, which obstructs Palestinians' freedom of movement, and access to relatives, work, hospitals, places of education and places of worship. Inside the West Bank barriers, earth mounds and concrete blocks often force Palestinian motorists to make long detours around settlements to get from one place to another. | Qalandiya is part of a network of checkpoints separating the West Bank from East Jerusalem, which obstructs Palestinians' freedom of movement, and access to relatives, work, hospitals, places of education and places of worship. Inside the West Bank barriers, earth mounds and concrete blocks often force Palestinian motorists to make long detours around settlements to get from one place to another. |
| Qalandiya was not on the president's itinerary. Neither was a visit to one of the West Bank's 19 refugee camps, where poverty, overcrowding, unemployment and drug abuse characterise daily life. Both political and religious militancy are endemic inside the camps; guns are frequently in evidence. | Qalandiya was not on the president's itinerary. Neither was a visit to one of the West Bank's 19 refugee camps, where poverty, overcrowding, unemployment and drug abuse characterise daily life. Both political and religious militancy are endemic inside the camps; guns are frequently in evidence. |
| Nor did Obama venture beyond what is commonly called the "Ramallah bubble" – the relatively cushioned life of the Palestinian elite and its attendant international community of NGOs and diplomats – to the West Bank villages. Here, embittered rural communities have lost swaths of land to Israeli settlements and the separation barrier. Violence by hardline Israeli settlers – described as "terrorist acts" by the US state department – has increased by almost 150% in the last few years, according to the United Nations. | Nor did Obama venture beyond what is commonly called the "Ramallah bubble" – the relatively cushioned life of the Palestinian elite and its attendant international community of NGOs and diplomats – to the West Bank villages. Here, embittered rural communities have lost swaths of land to Israeli settlements and the separation barrier. Violence by hardline Israeli settlers – described as "terrorist acts" by the US state department – has increased by almost 150% in the last few years, according to the United Nations. |
| Despite missing the opportunity to witness the daily grind of living under occupation, it is just possible that the president may have caught a glimpse from the sky of the huge Palestinian flag planted on a rocky hillside in an area east of Jerusalem known as E1. The 400 or so protesters who set up a makeshift camp on Wednesday had a message for the US president, encapsulated in banners hung on their tents: "Obama – you promised hope and change, you gave us colonies and apartheid." | Despite missing the opportunity to witness the daily grind of living under occupation, it is just possible that the president may have caught a glimpse from the sky of the huge Palestinian flag planted on a rocky hillside in an area east of Jerusalem known as E1. The 400 or so protesters who set up a makeshift camp on Wednesday had a message for the US president, encapsulated in banners hung on their tents: "Obama – you promised hope and change, you gave us colonies and apartheid." |
| E1 became the subject of an international diplomatic furore at the end of last year after the Israeli government said it would press ahead with plans to build settlements on the land, a move which would effectively cut off the West Bank from East Jerusalem, and in practice stymie Palestinian plans to make East Jerusalem the capital of a future state. | E1 became the subject of an international diplomatic furore at the end of last year after the Israeli government said it would press ahead with plans to build settlements on the land, a move which would effectively cut off the West Bank from East Jerusalem, and in practice stymie Palestinian plans to make East Jerusalem the capital of a future state. |
| In Ramallah on Thursday, Obama said the development of E1 was "very difficult to square with a two-state solution". | In Ramallah on Thursday, Obama said the development of E1 was "very difficult to square with a two-state solution". |
| The camp is the latest in a string of similar non-violent protests against settlements and occupation. The earlier tent villages were demolished by the Israeli authorities, and this latest one – named Afhad Younis – is expected to be dismantled, either voluntarily or forcibly, after Obama's departure. | The camp is the latest in a string of similar non-violent protests against settlements and occupation. The earlier tent villages were demolished by the Israeli authorities, and this latest one – named Afhad Younis – is expected to be dismantled, either voluntarily or forcibly, after Obama's departure. |
| Activist Munther Amira said the tents had been erected on land which was privately owned by Palestinians living in nearby villages. "We are forced to liberate our own land," he said. | Activist Munther Amira said the tents had been erected on land which was privately owned by Palestinians living in nearby villages. "We are forced to liberate our own land," he said. |
| Obama, he added, should stop supporting Israel, stop settlements, and help Palestinians to achieve peace, freedom and equality. "Obama is putting us in a corner, and we don't want to be in a corner," he said. "We are losing hope." | Obama, he added, should stop supporting Israel, stop settlements, and help Palestinians to achieve peace, freedom and equality. "Obama is putting us in a corner, and we don't want to be in a corner," he said. "We are losing hope." |
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