Once again the hot summer months are upon us, without any solution in sight for the Palestinian tragedy and the continued suffering of Palestinians crossing the King Hussein Bridge, which is the only exit and entry point for the West Bank.
While there is no doubt that the real solution to this tragedy is the end of the occupation, genuine efforts must be exerted to ease the sufferings of individuals and families crossing the bridge.
Jordanians and Palestinians must work together to find practical solutions and then present these ideas to the international community. Since many of the improvements will require Israeli approval, they will have to suggest these ideas to parties such us Quartet’s envoy Tony Blair or American envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell.
Much can be done to improve the situation. Jordan has recently carried out a number of important steps to ease the suffering of the travellers. A numbered ticket is given to each passenger who can sit on comfortable seats in a smoke-free air-conditioned hall waiting to get the papers processed and for the Israelis to handle them. But despite these efforts, passengers still spend hours in buses, waiting to make the crossing.
Ironically, the bridge is open during the hottest hours of the day in an environment that is unbearable especially during the summer months. The highest number of travels, including of families with babies, takes place during these same summer months when schools are closed.
It is known that the hours to cross the bridge are agreed upon by both the Israelis and Jordanians. It is therefore logical to extend the crossing hours into the evening and night, which may result in distributing the travellers over more hours, thus reducing the congested movement during the hot hours of the day.
Jordanian officials have repeatedly confirmed that they have no reservations about extending the crossing hours; the problem lies with the Israelis. A simple decision to extend the hours can go a long way in easing the sufferings for those crossing the bridge.
Under the Oslo agreement, the bridge used to stay open until ten in the evening. The Palestinian police were also stationed on the Palestinian side, to help solve any problem. However, the hours were reduced after the outbreak of Al Aqsa Intifada and the expulsion of the Palestinian police from the bridge. It is high time the Palestinian police were allowed to return to the agreed-upon location. The return to the pre-October 2000 situation, which is stipulated in the roadmap, would guarantee this return of the Palestinian police and thus the extension of the hours the bridge is open for the public.
At present, the bridge is open until 8:00pm for diplomats, but closes to the average West Banker as early as 3:00pm. Palestinians with special permits or Jerusalemites are allowed until around 3:45pm.
The extension of bridge hours should be implemented in all cases, regardless of an agreement on the return of the Palestinian police. Ironically, the Israelis are still collecting a large exit fee from all travellers under the pretext that half of the amount collected is earmarked for the Palestinian police to help cover their costs of policing at the bridge. At a minimum, 50 per cent of this sum should not be collected until the Palestinian police are allowed to return to their posts at the bridge.
The cost of travel across the two banks as a whole needs to be revised. In addition to the big exit tax that the Israelis charge (about $35 per person), West Bank passengers need to take two different buses just to get to the Jordanian side and vice versa. To that has to be added a relatively new charge of JD10 that Jordanians charge for every passport holder, including those who have departing tickets (which include a Jordanian exit tax fee). Even the taxi service from the bridge to Amman is chaotic and unsupervised, allowing many to take advantage of the dazed travellers, some of whom arrive in Jordan for the first time.
Travellers are being transported through two means only: Large buses that accommodate 50 passengers or more, and where the fare per passenger is JD 1.6, and the so-called businessmen VIP service, for which the fare is $82 per person (even if a family of five people uses the same van, the price is paid per person). The fee is divided equally between the Jordanian company (which has an unregulated monopoly) and the Israeli company.
Transportation in the latter manner is done in air-conditioned vehicles. While the passenger waits, a cup of coffee is provided and the staff helps with the luggage and passport control documentation. But for most people who use this service the real reason for dishing out this large amount of money is to avoid the long queues that the other travellers have to pay.
In the summer months, delays using the bus can take many hours, with passengers leaving Amman in the early morning hours and arriving at their final West Bank destinations only after sunset. The return trip is often just as difficult. The VIP company refuses to allow Jerusalemites to use the VIP service for only one leg of the trip. All in all, the trip can be extremely costly for a family, besides being difficult and nerve wrecking.
Palestinians entering Jordan en route to another destination have yet another problem. Sometimes individuals are not allowed to enter even though they might have a valid visa to another country. And since the King Hussein Bridge is the only route for Palestinians, being sent back by the Jordanians can mean that the West Bank becomes a huge prison for them.
Jordan should be able to provide transit travellers a bus to take those with valid visas to the airport, or they can be given 48-hour visas in Jordan, the way Dubai and Doha provide people with plans for further travel.
Another extra expensive charge is the cost of the Israeli permit for the residents of East Jerusalem; it costs every Jerusalem citizens about JD35, over and above the exit Israeli visa. This can become burdensome for those who travel continually through the King Hussein Bridge and don’t have an expense account from their organisation.
It would be much easier, for example, if the Jordanian authorities accepted to allow Jerusalemites to travel using the laissez passé. Jordanian officials have insisted for 42 years that the only document that they will honour for Palestinian Jerusalemites crossing the bridge is the Israeli permit, saying that the permit guarantees that Jerusalemites don’t lose their residency in Jerusalem. This is partly true. Those who don’t use the permit and spend years away do risk losing their residency. But regular travellers do not incur this risk.
The same principle applies to the inhabitants of Jerusalem who have his residence permit on their foreign passports, where their return visa is stamped. Using the laissez passé or the return visa would be much cheaper than having to pay for the permit every time one travels.
While the Israelis allow Jerusalemites to use the Sheikh Hussein Bridge even with their cars, the Jordanian authorities do not allow them entry even though they allow Palestinian and Jewish citizens of Israel.
There is no doubt that the end of the occupation is the only real way to end the suffering at the border crossings. In the meantime, however, much can be done to alleviate the physical and mental pain of crossing, as well as the high expense of making what should be at the most a two-hour journey.
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