January 25, 2003	Saturday	Ziqa’ad 21, 1423

RAFAH, Jan 24: Israeli forces have blocked hundreds of Palestinians seeking solace after 28 months of conflict with Israel from making the Haj, Palestinian rights groups said on Friday.

Israeli forces imposed tight travel curbs early this month on Palestinians younger than 35 in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, saying this was needed to stop attacks on Jewish settlements and Israel proper by militants waging an uprising for independence.

But the more than 10,000 Palestinians who registered to make this year’s Haj never expected the blanket ban would also stifle acts of faith.

“What does the world have to say about this? They block our road to worship God!” cried Raafat al-Qidra after he was turned away by Israeli authorities from Gaza’s Rafah crossing point to Egypt, a standard overland route to Saudi Arabia.

“The Israeli government has no respect, neither for Muslims nor for Christians,” Qidra, 34 and a member of a delegation from the Palestinian Religious Affairs Ministry, said.

Since the Palestinian uprising erupted in Sept 2000 after peace talks broke down, Israel has blacklisted would-be hajis on the basis of their perceived security threat.

Palestinian security officials said they were informed by Israeli counterparts that at least 1,400 Palestinians had been denied permits to leave Gaza and the West Bank this year.

“A thousand of those are families of martyrs killed by Israel and the rest Israel said were barred for unclear security reasons,” a Palestinian security official said.

Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza during the 1967 war. Under 1993 interim peace accords, Israel retained military control of traffic between Palestinian self-rule areas and beyond.

At least 1,788 Palestinians and 698 Israelis have been killed during the uprising.

In a statement, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights condemned the reported Israeli ban as “collective punishment” against Palestinian civilians.

About 5,500 Palestinians were scheduled to leave the Gaza Strip for Makkah in groups within eight days. At least 800 of them have fallen victim to the new ban so far, the group said.

“The blockage of pilgrims is a flagrant violation of the right of people to free religion and free belief, especially of the right to worshipping and practising religious rituals,” the rights group said in a statement.—Reuters