Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/01/31
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]brad daly wrote: "from what i understand, travelling from israel proper into the west bank or gaza strip is next to impossible right now, especially in jerusalem. there's currently a proposal to build a wall separating east and west parts of the city. you might want to read the jerusalem post (www.jpost.co.il) or ha'aretz (www.haaretz.co.il) for a couple of weeks to get an idea of what's going on." Brad: I worked for Ha'aretz in Israel and the Palestinian territories for several months recently. I do not believe that the Israelis have ever fully closed access to all of the West Bank from Jerusalem -- indeed, that would be achieving the near-impossible. On any day one can get all sorts of Arab motorized transport from outside the Old City to many West Bank towns. As my earlier post said, certain towns may be closed off at certain times on particular days. The best sources of information for this constantly changing situation are the Palestinian taxi drivers. Unless the international frontier is closed (rare, but it has happened), the Gaza Strip is always accessible from Egyptian Sinai and this is a sound option if one is determined to go there. You are correct that from Israel proper this can be more problematic, as there is but one point of access (the Erez crossing) and the Israelis can shut this at will. Still, accredited foreign journalists (including Leica-toting photographers!) and humanitarian workers can usually circumvent that restriction. Emanuel Lowi Montreal - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html