Jerusalem Woman Gives Birth at Israeli Military Checkpoint

Below is the story of a recent incident at the Zayem military checkpoint, which is one of many Israeli checkpoints controlling Palestinian access to Jerusalem from the West Bank. The article originally appeared in Al-Quds (Jerusalem) newspaper in Arabic, but was translated into English with the help of Imad Farrah. In the last two paragraphs, I provide statistics detailing the impact of the Israeli closure and permit regime in the West Bank and Gaza on pregnant Palestinian women and their newborn children.

Jerusalem Woman Gives Birth at Israeli Military Checkpoint

An innocent child who does not belong to any religion or political party was born at an Israeli military checkpoint in the West Bank, whose mother nearly had a miscarriage because of the slow process of passing through the Zayem checkpoint.

Mirvat Shweki (mother) holds a blue Israeli ID (resident of Jerusalem), instead of a green Israeli ID (resident of the West Bank). Although holders of blue IDs can travel between the West Bank and Jerusalem, it is illegal for Palestinians with Green IDs to travel into Jerusalem or Israel without “special” permission. Jerusalemites must travel through a checkpoint when entering into Jerusalem via the West Bank and often times suffer significant delays at the checkpoints, which result from long lines and extensive search and detention procedures.

Mrs. Shweki didn’t realize the third birth she was going to have would take place outside of a hospital. The birth was caused by delayed procedures of the Israeli Army at Zayem checkpoint, which makes this story particularly painful. She waited for two hours at this checkpoint which was going to cause a death for her child, but God was kind enough to allow the child to survive.

Interview with Mrs. Shweki– She said she was really scared for Ramez, her newborn son. Her husband is originally from Al-'Eizariya and has a West Bank ID (green), so the previous evening they went to visit his family. It ended up being too late to come back through the checkpoint, so they stayed the night in Al-'Eizariya. She felt labor pains around 8:00 AM and thought she was going to give birth, so she attempted to go to the hospital with her husband’s brother and sister which required passing through Zayem checkpoint.

The three of them have blue IDs and the car has Israeli license plates and was completely legal, therefore they should have relatively quick access to Jerusalem. Instead, they were forced to wait for two hours at the checkpoint because the female soldier simply took their IDs, in spite of Ms. Shweki telling her she was going to give birth. The soldier insisted she were lying and required a search of the vehicle.

While the soldiers were searching their car attempting and they were attempting to convince the soldiers to let them through the checkpoint, Mrs. Shweki’s water broke. Despite her physical pain and the fact he was going to give birth, the female solider insisted on searching her body. Mrs. Shweki’s sister-in-law helped her remove her clothes, and it was at this point the soldier understood she was going to give birth. Despite this realization the soldier continued to waste time and go through the checkpoint procedures slowly, as if nothing was happening. Mrs. Shweki was shouting in pain and fear and lost consciousness for a short period of time.

These moments were very long, stressful, and painful for Mrs. Shweki because she thought she was going to lose her child. She prayed for god to protect him and save his life. It does not matter if she has a green or blue ID, this is an emergency situation, so the soldiers should do everything they can to make sure she makes it to the hospital. These are basic human rights.

Mrs. Shweki eventually reached the Red Crescent Hospital, but only after she had given birth at the checkpoint. When they arrived at the hospital the umbilical cord was already cut, the embryo sack was in the car, and her blood pressure critically low. Mrs. Shweki’s newborn son was suffering from severe dry skin as a result of his mother’s water breaking at the checkpoint.

Mrs. Shweki’s husband couldn’t get access to Jerusalem for two days following the pregnancy because he has a green permit. He asked for a special permit to allow him temporary access to Jerusalem, however he was not granted one. The hospital immediately sent a letter to the checkpoint saying how urgent the situation was and that she needed a lot of blood, but the commander of the checkpoint refused to let him in that day. He was then allowed passage two days later.

Mrs. Shweki needed her husband next to her to talk with her and help her forget her pains and worries. She just wanted someone by her side.

Interview with Mrs. Shweki's husband – He asks everyone to help find a solution for the problems of human rights at checkpoints and the borders. His child is innocent and hadn’t even seen light, so he didn’t deserve to be treated like that. The newborn had no religion, political party, or ethic group.

Ali Abu Hilal (General Coordinator Jerusalem Center for Democracy and Human Rights) - Israel does not care about the lives of Palestinians. This is not the first time a woman who was in labor and travelling to the hospital has ended up giving birth at a checkpoint. Soldiers at this checkpoint in particular don’t care about the health issues of Palestinians. Many people have died because at this checkpoint because of their slow procedures. This is against all human rights regulations, and apparently Israel doesn’t care about human rights violations. Even Jerusalemites (blue ID) fall into this situation, and it is part of their racist policy that Israel differentiates between Israelis and Palestinians who hold the blue ID.

He urges all Israelis to care about this issue and for humanitarian organizations to observe these checkpoints, follow up on violations of human rights, and put pressure on Israel to halt these continually occurring abuses.

Unnamed Social Worker – Statistics indicate that from 2007-2009 there were three cases of women giving birth at Zayem checkpoint. The slow implementation of procedures by the Israeli Army and the fact that many individuals traveling through this checkpoint have green IDs instead of blue IDs contribute to these occurrences. Additionally, there are five cases where people died because they could not get through Zayem checkpoint to emergency medical facilities.

Since 2000, there have been at least 73 Palestinian women who have given birth at Israel checkpoints. Of these 36 women miscarried, and five died in childbirth (Palestinian Health Ministry, Annual Report for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights).

Further, an estimated 2,500 women per year give birth while attempting to reach a delivery facility. Food insecurity is also adversely affecting the health of women and children. According to the results of a study undertaken by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in September 2006, 57.5 per cent of children aged between 6 and 36 months and 44.9 per cent of pregnant women in Gaza are anemic (Annual Report for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights).