Israel Closes Territories to Bar Protests : Army Imposes 3-Day Curfew, Travel Ban on 1.4 Million Arabs

The Israeli army Monday declared the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip to be closed military areas, imposing unprecedented restrictions for the next three days on the 1.4 million Palestinian Arabs who live in the territories.

More than 600,000 Arab residents of the Gaza Strip were confined to their homes under an areawide curfew that went into effect at 10 p.m. Monday. About 800,000 Arabs in the West Bank were restricted to their towns or villages.

The order effectively seals the so-called Green Line that divides Israel proper from the territories it occupied in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. The only people allowed to travel back and forth freely, besides military personnel, will be the approximately 70,000 Jewish settlers who live in 118 towns and outposts in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Ban on Journalists

The media are also banned from the territories, except for persons with special authorization from the army spokesman’s office who are accompanied by an army representative.

The Israel Defense Forces spokesman, Brig. Gen. Efraim Lapid, announced that the extraordinary measures were taken in order “to maintain law, order and security” in the face of Arab demonstrations planned for Wednesday. The date, March 30, is commemorated here as “Land Day” in memory of six Arab demonstrators who were killed in 1976 protesting the confiscation of Arab lands in northern Israel.

Land Day is customarily observed mainly by the 700,000 Arabs who live as Israeli citizens within Israel’s pre-1967 borders, but this year it has been declared a day of solidarity with the Palestinian uprising that has rocked the West Bank and Gaza Strip for nearly 16 weeks.

Demonstrations Urged

The Unified National Leadership for the Uprising in the Occupied Territories has called for “huge demonstrations against the army and settlers” to coincide with protests and a general strike planned by Israeli Arabs.

“Since the intifada (uprising) is taking place both in the West Bank and in Israel,” a senior military source said, “we decided to separate the two and to prevent the kind of disturbances that could create large-scale public disorder.”

Israel Radio quoted a security source as saying: “We’re taking the possibility of violence and demonstrations very seriously, and we intend to ensure that the game will not be one-sided, or dictated by rioters and troublemakers.”

Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin told Israel Radio that the authorities were also concerned that “extreme elements” might be planning violent protests during the planned visit next week by U.S. Secretary of State George P. Shultz, during Passover celebrations, and on Israeli Independence Day next month.

“We want to signal very clearly that we are not going to hesitate to use whatever measures are necessary” to forestall such violence, Rabin said.

Asked if the measures might not be considered extreme, Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir told reporters in Tel Aviv that the steps are “essential to ensure security.”

And the military chief of staff, Gen. Dan Shomron, hinted that the authorities may close the territories for longer than three days if that proves necessary.

Police Minister Chaim Bar-Lev said his forces have been mobilized to maintain security in Israel proper and in predominantly Arab East Jerusalem, which was annexed after the 1967 war. About 4,000 police officers are reportedly on alert, and army helicopters are said to be standing by to rush reinforcements to any major trouble spots.

Bar-Lev said his forces will stay outside Arab towns and will not intervene with planned demonstrations unless they turn violent.

Individual refugee camps and West Bank villages have been put under curfew or closed on other occasions since the Palestinian unrest erupted last Dec. 9. At one point, the residents of seven of eight camps in the Gaza Strip were confined to their homes. But at no time have such extraordinary restrictions been placed on the territories.

The army order prohibits West Bank and Gaza Strip Palestinians who normally work in Israel proper from going to their jobs until Friday. Normally these people number well over 100,000, but since the uprising began, the number has dwindled in response to underground calls to sever ties with Israel wherever possible.

Travel Restrictions

The order also closes to all but incoming traffic the bridges connecting the West Bank with Jordan. Palestinian farmers sell much of their produce in Jordan.

By keeping the bridges open for people to enter the territories, Israel apparently hopes to avoid interfering with foreign tourism as much as possible. Christian tour groups often enter the area via Jordan, and the Easter season is particularly important for tourism.

The media ban brought an immediate protest from Israel’s Foreign Press Assn., which rejected an army offer to arrange pool coverage of the territories for the period of the restrictions.

Robert Slater, a correspondent for Time magazine and chairman of the association, commented: “We reject what the army is doing, and we have urged them to reconsider their decision immediately so we can cover what has been, for the last four months, one of the largest stories in the international community.”

The army has been progressively more stringent in allowing media coverage of activity in the territories since the trouble began, and for the last three Fridays, it has closed large areas to journalists. Military sources say the presence of the media only incites protesters, but Israel is admittedly concerned about the impact the unrest is having on its image abroad.

Israel Radio said the extraordinary security measures were approved by Gen. Shomron and Defense Minister Rabin. They “were also brought before the government,” it said.

The measures are the latest in a series of tough moves over the last two weeks aimed at quelling the continuing unrest. Up to 4,000 Palestinians have been imprisoned in connection with the uprising, including about 1,000 in the last 10 days. Security sources have said they believe they have most of the leaders of the unrest behind bars, but nightly arrests continue.

Still, the death toll in the uprising has continued to rise, at an even faster pace than in the first two months of the unrest. It now stands at 114 Palestinians and one Israeli soldier, including a 19-year-old Arab youth who died Monday from wounds received in a clash Sunday.

Of the victims, 25 Palestinians and the Israeli soldier have died in the past 13 days, and the toll for March is already 39 dead.

Shamir Calls for Unity

Earlier Monday, at a special session of the Knesset (Parliament) called to hear a report on his recent state visit to Washington, Prime Minister Shamir urged national unity in the face of the uprising in the territories. He said disunity harms the nation’s negotiating position.

Speaking six days before the scheduled arrival in Israel of Secretary of State Shultz on a renewed regional peace effort, Shamir again rejected the latest U.S. formula for a Middle East conference.

In unusually blunt terms, he criticized Shultz for meeting last weekend with Profs. Edward Said and Ibrahim abu Lughod, Palestinian-Americans who are members of the Palestine National Council, which is sometimes referred to as the Palestine Liberation Organization’s parliament in exile.

“We take a very grave view of American efforts to establish contacts with people of the PLO,” Shamir said.