Letter by Dr. M. Shtayyeh  director of PECDAR

Selected scenes from the latest bulldozed road between Ramallah and Birzeit



March 10, 2001

After the Israeli Occupation Forces destroyed the Ramallah - Birzeit main (and only) road, travel in both directions became a nightmare.

The trip to Ramallah - from one trench to another. The last passenger is barely visible in the trench.


Carefully crossing over the filled trenches to catch a car to Ramallah



All photos by Yasser Darwish, BZU photographer

March 10, 2001

The destruction and demolition of roads in the West Bank and Gaza by Israeli Forces


Dear Sir/Madam,

On the morning of March 7th, 2001 the Israelis, with the use of military
bulldozers, demolished and totally destructed the main road connecting
Ramallah with a number of Palestinian villages (33 villages, 200,000
people)
located at the north west of it including Birzeit university. The telephone
lines, electricity, and water pipes were utterly obliterated.

The road was constructed by the Palestinian Economic Council for
Development
and Reconstruction –PECDAR- with the aid from South Korea, OPEC, and the
World Bank. The total cost of its construction was 4 million dollars. It is
worth noting also that the road serves more than 10 thousand students
(schools and university) living in the Ramallah and the north west
villages,
and is the one and only connection leading to the main city (Ramallah) as
well as hospitals and institutions.

Therefore, we would like to bring to your notice, that PECDAR, as it
condemns such inhumane actions caused by the Israeli authorities, calls for
immediate alleviation of the closure imposed on that road as well as total
rectification of the damages inflicted on its infrastructure.

Similar acts of road destruction were also reported in the following cities
and villages in the West Bank and Gaza:

- Dura Al-Qare’ – Ein Yabroud (Ramallah)
- Al-Mazra’a Al-Sharqiyyeh village entrance (Ramallah)
- Singel village entrances (three) (Ramallah)
- Turmus Ayya village entrance (Ramallah)
- Al-Jalazone road (Ramallah)
- Al-Jeeb – Biddo road (Ramallah)
- Um Safa entrance (Ramallah)
- Beit Dajan – Al-ghor road (Nablus)
- Azoun east entrance (Qalqilia)
- Wado Balat – Ein Sinya entrance (Ramallah)
- Nazlet Isa entrance (Tulkarem)
- Bani Zeid Western entrance (Ramallah)
- Halhul – Bethlehem road (Hebron)
- Al-Khader village entrance (Bethlehem)
- Salah Eddeen Road (Gaza)
- Khanyunis road (Khanyunis)
- Rafah road (Rafah)
In addition to that is the blocking of roads (91 roads in the West Bank and
Gaza) using cement cubes, which totally prohibits entrance to blocked
areas,
and the digging of huge ducts around certain cities such as Jericho, which
also prevents people from going in and out of the city.

Any assistance that you might see appropriate will be greatly appreciated,
especially at this particular time when the Israelies are obviously aiming
at the complete destruction of the infrastructure of our cities and
villages.

Thank you.


Best regards,



Dr. Mohammad Shtayyeh
Managing Director

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