Jordan has pledged to improve conditions at “the Bridge” following accusations it profits from
Israeli restrictions on Palestinians, but analysts say such half-measures won’t matter while
occupation remains.
During the last few weeks, following the heated events in the West Bank as a result of violent
Israeli raids in Nablus, Jenin, and Huwwara, Israeli forces have besieged the city of Jericho in
February and March of this year. This city is the only pathway connecting West Bank
Palestinians with the outside world, as it is where the “Karameh crossing” linking the West Bank
with Jordan’s King Hussein Bridge is located.
This siege has thus prevented many Palestinians from traveling abroad and has reminded the
world of how restricted and difficult mobility is for West Bank Palestinians, whose only way in
and out of the country relies on “the Bridge.”
The border crossing requires travelers to pass through three different “sides” to make it to Jordan
— the Palestinian side in Jericho, the Israeli side at the Allenby Bridge, and the Jordanian side at
the King Hussein Bridge.
Without an airport of their own (Gaza’s having been destroyed by Israeli forces in 2002), and
with long and complicated requirements for them to use Israel’s Ben Gurion International
Airport, West Bank Palestinians find themselves with the only option of using Jordan’s Queen
Alia Airport every time they want to travel abroad — and that is neither a short nor an easy
journey.
Something as simple and now mundane in our minds as taking a flight takes Palestinians not
only an unpredictably long amount of time but also requires sizable sums of money and a great
deal of mental wherewithal.