In recent days, police have set up makeshift concrete roadblocks in two Arab neighborhoods in the mixed city of Lod, blocking off entire Arab neighborhoods while nearby Jewish neighborhoods remain open to free movement.
According to reports from residents, the roadblock in one neighborhood is complete and does not allow any entry or exit. In a second neighborhood, the roadblock had diverted traffic to an alternative route that passes through a difficult-to-access industrial area.
The roadblocks are severely disrupting the daily lives of hundreds of residents, preventing the passage of emergency services and harming student transportation and access to educational, health, and welfare institutions, according to residents.
"It feels like a military government in a civilian neighborhood - and it hurts people's hearts, especially children," attorney Taysir Shaaban, a father of four, who was born and raised in one of the now-blocked Arab neighborhoods, told Walla.
According to Shaaban, the placement of the improvised concrete checkpoints and the intensive activity of the Border Police within the neighborhoods does not just create a transportation or logistical problem, but creates segregation, a sense of disconnection, and a sense of an area under military supervision.
"They have turned these neighborhoods, which are part of the fabric of the city, into a kind of refugee camp in the territories. The checkpoints make it difficult to enter and exit the neighborhood, for emergency vehicles to arrive, and in general, for the families' daily lives,” Shaaban said.
"There are elderly people here, there are disabled children who need to get in and out, and it probably doesn't interest anyone."
In Shaaban’s opinion, this is a recurring pattern of "collective punishment," which has also been seen in other periods, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, when the neighborhood was also closed. The pattern is one of action that deepens the gaps between the Jewish and Arab parts of the city, Shaaban said.
Shaaban additionally warned that any policy that marginalizes entire neighborhoods shapes the reality of a modern ghetto. "Let's hope that the High Court will once and for all impose costs on those who order the placement of such barriers,” he said, stating his hope that those who placed the block do not “remove them before the court is supposed to hold a hearing, and then claim that it was unnecessary."
He stated that “this is not a temporary or one-time problem, but one that repeats itself over and over again."
Following the placement of the blockades, the Association for Civil Rights urgently appealed to the police, the Legal Advisor to the Government, and senior police officials, demanding their immediate removal.
In the appeal, the association clarified that blocking residential neighborhoods with concrete barriers, especially in a mixed city, is carried out without any explicit legal authority and constitutes collective punishment that is illegal and seriously discriminatory against the fundamental rights of residents.
The Association for Civil Rights noted that placing barriers in the heart of residential neighborhoods in a mixed city highlights the grave injustice that is taking place: Arab residents are punished because of their place of residence, while Jewish residents of the city continue to enjoy full freedom of movement.
"This is a serious violation of fundamental rights, primarily the right to freedom of movement, the right to health, the right to education, and the right to equality," it said.
Repeated roadblocks in Arab neighborhoods
The roadblock incident in Lod is not an isolated incident. As reported in Walla, in recent months, the Israel Police have been implementing a broad policy of placing concrete barriers in Arab communities and neighborhoods across the country, including Fureidis, Lakiya, Tel Sheva, Tarabin, and Jisr e-Zarka.
Attorney Abir Joubran of the Association for Civil Rights stated that ”The police continue to implement an illegal policy of blocking Arab neighborhoods and communities, while severely violating human rights and imposing collective punishment on entire residents.”
“Placing barriers in the heart of a mixed city, with Arab neighborhoods blocked and Jewish neighborhoods open, sharply exposes the deep discrimination in this policy. This is a move that has no basis in law and must be stopped immediately," Joubran continued.
The Israel Police have not yet responded to the complaints.