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KARAMA- Freedom of Movement
KARAMA (which means 'dignity’ in Arabic) is a public and national campaign aimed at promoting the independence of Palestinians, alleviating their suffering while travelling within and outside of Palestine, and ensuring their freedom and dignity. On the 19thof April 2012, the KARAMA Campaign became an official registered Palestinian non-governmental organization under reference number RA-22787-HR of the Palestinian Authority.
The Campaign
is aware that the fundamental solution to the freedom of movement and travel for Palestinians is for the Israeli occupation to cease, and for Palestinians to achieve freedom and sovereignty over their borders, land, water, and air; towards which the Campaign likewise aspires. As a first phase the Campaign has focused on Palestinians’ right to travel to and from Jordan (via the Karameh Bridge in Jericho) with freedom and dignity, devoid of financial burdens. Exhaustive routine procedures must also be reduced and an immediate improvement must be made to existing travelling conditions. In this regard, the Campaign has raised demands to the relevant Jordanian and Israeli authorities, as well as the PA, concerning the following matters:
- Travel to and from Jordan in modern, adequate busses from Palestinian city centers to and from Jordanian city centers without humiliating treatment, redundant waits, and burdensome financial expenses.
- Free travel via private cars directly driving through crossing bridge.
- Opening of bridge 24 hours a day, with scheduled bus timings.
- Reclaiming PA jurisdiction as it was prior to 2002.
Being a focal point for the Campaign, JLAC has been active in a number of activities addressing the murder of Jordanian-Palestinian judge Raed Z’eiter while in route at the Karama border crossing (i.e. documentation and submission to various relevant bodies). The submissions sought to raise the urgent issues facing Palestinians in traveling across al-Karama border crossing, particularly in regards to the irreverence shown to Palestinian lives by Israeli forces. The Campaign served to shed light the difficulties faced by travelers in a documentary, which was produced in cooperation with the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation- Palestine. The documentary was successfully screened in a series of events along with a media campaign. This resulted in the expansion of the Campaign’s scope of work, which is anticipated to grow further over the coming years. Furthermore, JLAC continued to undertake cases involving road closures by Israeli military orders in the West Bank. To this effect, JLAC was the first party to receive and publicize the list of roads re-opening through the successful legal pressure.
The International Campaign for the Residency Rights of Jerusalemites:
The International Coalition participated in a series of activities, most notably meeting with European parliamentarians in the European Parliament in Brussels in March 2014, to stress the gravity of the issue of withdrawing the Jerusalemites’ identity cards and demanding the European Union to exert pressure on the Israeli government to halt this policy. Moreover, in partnership with JLAC, the Campaign conducted 13 awareness workshops, with the participation of 213 citizens, in different neighborhoods in Jerusalem, on issues related to withdrawal of identity cards and family reunification.