Birzeit--20 March 1997-- At 9:15 this morning, Israeli troops closed the road between Birzeit University and Ramallah, the largest Palestinian population center for university employees and students. The Ramallah-Birzeit road was closed at its intersection with the settler road when Israeli soldiers discovered a "suspect vehicle" parked on the settler road. University employees and students were delayed for one hour while an army bomb disposal unit moved the car onto the Ramallah-Birzeit road and blew it up with a controlled explosion.
The roads in the area are notorious for their poor surfacing, resulting in cars often breaking down. Both the Israeli army and insurance companies refuse to award compensation to owners whose cars are destroyed in this way, making a breakdown a potentially devastating financial loss. The owner of this car, with Ramallah town licence plates, had reportedly not been absent from the scene for long before the road was sealed and the car blown up. No secondary explosion, as would be the case if the car had itself been filled with explosives, was reported by university observers.
In the waiting period before the explosion, both a journalist and Birzeit University observers who approached Israeli soldiers to ask for the reason for the delay were told to "go away". "I don't want to tell you what the situation is," commented one soldier. Immediately after the explosion, the Israeli troops departed, abandoning the car where it was (left, click for enlargement). Lines of Palestinian cars, taxis, buses and trucks that had been delayed were then able to pass once again. Birzeit University observers who briefly inspected the wreckage commented that, "both the engine and back luggage compartments were destroyed by the explosion. The car was a write off." Although these kinds of incidents are not unusual, the speed of the event was partly seen as resulting from the increased tension surrounding the Jebal Abu Ghnaim/Har Homa settlement developments near Bethlehem.
Shortly after the event a short, unconnected rally was held by the Student Council at Birzeit University. Student leaders from all factions condemned the developments at Jebal Abu Ghnaim. Reflecting the wide disillusionment with continuing Israeli land confiscation and settlement building, one student from the pro-Fatah Shabiba student bloc, "This is not a struggle for peace," stated "this is a struggle for our existence." Students announced that Ghassan Andoni would be giving a lecture this afternoon in Birzeit's Kamal Nasir Hall. Andoni is head of the peace-orientated Center for Rapproachment between Peoples in Beit Sahour, the Palestinian town which neighbours Jebal Abu Ghnaim.
Webpage and graphics by Nigel Parry. Digital images by Nigel Parry and Hanan Elmasu. Comments to webmaster@birzeit.edu