GAZA STRIP
Palestinian youth in the Gaza Strip set up a number of checkpoints on the main roads on Monday, saying they “mimic Israeli checkpoints, which violate Palestinians’ freedom of movement in the streets and cities of the West Bank.”
The checkpoints were erected by the Palestinian youth campaign “Movers for Palestine” near al-Azhar University and in the middle of Gaza City.
A number of people, holding guns and weapons and wearing uniforms similar to those worn by Israeli soldiers, were standing next to the checkpoints.
Many Palestinian routes in the West Bank are witnessing large deployments of Israeli soldiers setting up army checkpoints, where they stop vehicles, search them and check the personal identity cards of the drivers, some of whom are arrested.
“These checkpoints show the harsh suffering which Palestinians in the West Bank are exposed to from the Israeli army, and expose violations to the freedom of movement and transportation,” Mohammed Abu Samra, the campaign’s spokesman, told Anadolu Agency. “We wanted to convey and embody the bitter reality under which Palestinians in the West Bank live and the violations to freedom of movement which they are exposed to from the Israeli checkpoints.”
He pointed out that many of the Palestinian youth in Gaza have not lived through the suffering of Israeli inspections at checkpoints.
The Israeli army and settlers completely withdrew from Gaza in 2005, in what was known in the media as the “Unilateral Disengagement Plan.”
The “Movers for Palestine” campaign was established in 2013 in the Gaza Strip, West Bank and Israel.
It is comprised of Palestinian youth who carry out a number events concerned with the Palestinian cause.
“We have one identity and our suffering is one,” Abu Samra said. “We also wanted to bring this suffering to the world’s attention.”
