The execution of the young man Abdullah Abu Talib at the Jalameh crossing was not an isolated incident in the history of the Jalameh crossing north of the northern West Bank city of Jenin which witnessed many cases of cold-blooded executions as part of the multiple forms of suffering.
The occupation forces executed Abu Talib on the fourth of February for allegedly throwing a home-made bomb in the area which was proven wrong following investigations and according to eyewitnesses.
The name of this crossing is mentioned every time there is a new tragedy and a story of suffering of a different kind.
The Jalameh crossing is located between the town of Jalameh and today’s Israel to the north of Jenin. The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) have expanded it several times turning it into fortified walls towers electronic rooms a corridor of goods and others. The continued presence of the IOF is a source of tension in the area which has turned into an execution field.
The memory of the citizens in Jenin is full of painful incidents of killings at the crossing for a long time noting that its fortifications confirm that the soldiers are not exposed to any danger even if the crossing is shelled.
Many martyrs at the crossing
The first martyrs in Jenin during Al-Aqsa Intifada in 2000 were shot at the Jalameh crossing where the Israeli occupation forces killed five members of the Palestinian National Security at the entrance of Jenin although they didn’t pose any danger.
In 2015 at the beginning of Al-Quds Intifada the Israeli occupation forces executed four young men near the crossing within two months. None of them posed a direct threat to those forces.
According to Amin Jaradat an owner of a small shop near the Jalameh crossing the suffering is numerous. The sellers who put their goods on the roadside suffer from the attacks of the occupation soldiers; their belongings were demolished more than once the last of which was a year ago.
He pointed out that making their living forces them to stay in the place despite the harassment of the occupation despite that fact that they are far away from the crossing.
The head of the village council in Jalameh Mohammed Abu Farha told the PIC that the presence of the crossing causes constant movement restrictions and control on Palestinian lives around the clock by the occupation forces. It also causes instability in the nearby areas.
The suffering of workers
Workers at the Jalameh crossing have a different story. Thousands of workers suffer daily from overcrowding and degrading inspection as they rush since the early hours of the morning to pass under difficult conditions.
The owner of a clothes’ shop in Jenin Amin Jaber told the PIC that the IOF soldiers exploit the crossing to blackmail citizens by preventing Palestinians from today’s Israel from entering Jenin. This means complete paralysis of the commercial movement. Jenin’s economy is completely dependent on the movement from and out of the crossing which creates a constant state of uncertainty among citizens.
