tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4008006782907969381.post8544801108884664529..comments2024-01-01T01:47:59.449+02:00Comments on Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations: Apartheid DeconstructionYaacovhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12835192312242961481noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4008006782907969381.post-91069500582699442852010-01-02T20:41:25.473+02:002010-01-02T20:41:25.473+02:00Just a note that a few of the villages on the map ...Just a note that a few of the villages on the map you use are actually Jewish villages. Only one, Bet Horon, has direct access to 443.Alissahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00846819414972534465noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4008006782907969381.post-464626875640491612009-12-31T20:53:45.933+02:002009-12-31T20:53:45.933+02:00In 2004, two of my friends and I, freshly arrived,...In 2004, two of my friends and I, freshly arrived, paid a taxi to take us from Ben Gurion to Jerusalem. It was only the second time that we were in Israel, and we assumed the route taken would circumvent the Latrun pocket. It was less of an informed assumption than ignorance.<br /><br />While my friends chatted with the driver, I nervously watched what clearly were Palestinian villages on either side of the road. I didn't understand why the driver would have taken this route. It was the last days of the intifada, and there were still shootings and the occasional homicide bombing... I got paranoid. What did we really know about this driver? He was so eager to take us and charged less than other taxis. Where was he taking us?<br /><br />I started asking him questions. Where are we? Why did we take this route? He told us it would take twice as long had we taken the other way. We hit a checkpoint just outside Ramallah and I remember him pointing out the roof of the Muqata in the distance.<br /><br />I don't know how opening this road to Palestinian traffic will undermine security, except in a general way of enabling mobility. Most attacks didn't come from other drivers on the road, I thought, but from the surrounding areas. There are several Palestinian villages overlooking the road; some excellent choke points and sniper positions, as the road passes through higher terrain on either side, and many had been used. In 2004, according to our driver, almost no one would use the road at night.<br /><br />In 2004, there was still a policy of house demolitions; if an attack occurred from one of the villages, the homes overlooking the road would be bulldozed. It was a policy that, once enforced, cut shootings to a minimum. I think house demolitions are no longer in the IDF toolbox, however.Avigdorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05008730229882004376noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4008006782907969381.post-25191329723366256362009-12-31T20:35:34.857+02:002009-12-31T20:35:34.857+02:00The obvious solution is to write a law ordering th...The obvious solution is to write a law ordering the Israel Supreme Court to defer to the recommendations of relevant security bodies in cases like Route 443. The Court is simply not equipped to make decisions about life and death matters on its own whim. That is why there are professionals and the Court should defer to them. Its should not try to second-guess and alter arrangements that have worked well simply because a few people are inconvenienced by them. Israel's security in short, is far too important to be left in the hands of its Supreme Court.NormanFhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03365459073293643108noreply@blogger.com