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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: michael97123 who wrote (30275)	2/18/2004 9:09:00 AM
From: LindyBill	Respond to of 793824

I have only one thing to say to the Pals. "Brothers, you asked for it!" Gaza border bottlenecks anger workers Many want security measures eased after a Palestinian is trampled at Erez crossing on his way to work in Israel By Joel Greenberg Special to the Chicago Tribune February 18, 2004 GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Trampled in a crush of laborers trying to get to work in Israel, Muhammad al-Sheikh was honored here on Tuesday as a different kind of martyr of the Palestinian cause, killed on his way to earn his daily bread. Memorial posters carried a picture of al-Sheikh against a backdrop of the gold-covered Dome of the Rock shrine in Jerusalem, proclaiming him a hero who had lost his life at the "crossing of death" into Israel. Al-Sheikh, 41, died Monday at the Erez crossing, a fortified border point at the northern edge of the Gaza Strip where thousands of Palestinian laborers gather in the early-morning hours to go through security checks before traveling to menial jobs in Israel. The security procedures have been tightened since a Palestinian woman wearing explosives blew herself up last month at a nearby inspection center for laborers, killing three Israeli soldiers and a security guard. The resulting delays have led to huge pileups at the turnstile gates leading to the zone where laborers are checked, with people being rushed to hospitals almost daily after being suffocated or injured in the crush. The bottleneck is threatening a lifeline for many people in the impoverished, fenced-off Gaza Strip, where the unemployment rate is over 50 percent. Angry laborers blocked access to the crossing Tuesday, demanding that restrictions be eased. An Israeli army spokesman put the blame for the chaotic conditions on the Palestinian police stationed in the area where the workers gather outside the Israeli inspection zone. The waiting area is a 6-yard-wide tunnel about 50 yards long where thousands of workers stand for hours under the glare of blinding Israeli spotlights, pressing against four turnstiles that are topped with iron bars and coils of barbed wire. Once inside the Israeli zone, workers must bare their stomachs to show that they are not wearing explosives belts. They walk through metal detectors and are forbidden to bring bags of food or any other belongings. The lineup begins before midnight for the inspections that begin at 2 a.m. Workers push forward to make it through by 6 a.m., when buses taking them to work leave for Israeli towns. Israel has granted permits for daily entry of some 15,000 workers, but fewer than half that number get through in time, according to Palestinian police officers at the scene. "The Israelis have to process people faster," said one officer, asserting that his men were overwhelmed. The Israeli army spokesman said it was the Palestinians' job to control the flow of laborers to the inspection area. "This is the sole responsibility of the Palestinian Authority," he said. Literally caught in the middle, the laborers are paying the price of the tighter inspection regime imposed after last month's suicide bombing. "This is no way to live," said Muin al-Qumua, 32, who worked with al-Sheikh. "This is humiliation." On Monday, al-Sheikh was removed to the Israeli side of the crossing where he was examined by Israeli Army medical staff. The Army later said the cause of death was a heart attack that may have been triggered by the crush of the crowd. His was a death foretold, his friends said. On a previous morning he had fallen under the weight of the surging crowd but was pulled to his feet in time. A father of six, al-Sheikh earned the equivalent of about $35 a day assembling and installing solar water heaters for an Israeli company near Tel Aviv. He spent few hours at home during the workweek, returning every evening only to leave again at 2 the next morning to get in line for the security checks, his acquaintances said. At a family condolence tent where neighbors arrived to pay their respects, al-Sheikh was remembered as good-natured and generous. "He always said good morning with a laugh and never got angry," al-Qumua said. "If he had money, he would share it with a friend, and he gave me two pairs of pants he had bought that didn't fit him." An announcer read a tribute, praising the Palestinian workers who "refuse to beg, and make their living with honor and dignity without depending on others." Al-Sheikh was a martyr because he had died providing for his family, the speaker said. Al-Qumua said that despite the indignities and the loss of his friend, he would be back at the Erez crossing in a few days, heading for work. "There's no other way," he said. "We have to live." Copyright © 2004, Chicago Tribune