MIFTAH
Friday, 29 March. 2024
 
Your Key to Palestine
The Palestinian Initiatives for The Promotoion of Global Dialogue and Democracy
 
 
 

For years, I have had an Israeli mobile chip for my cell phone since I live in Jerusalem. Orange was my company of choice for no particular reason except that it had excellent reception in Jerusalem and relatively good reception in certain areas of the West Bank. Except at the office, which is on the outskirts of Ramallah. There my acquaintances would often complain that my mobile phone had no service or that it would cut off mid-sentence. So, I bought a chip from Jawwal, the official Palestinian mobile service provider in the West Bank and Gaza, and inserted it into my two-chip Samsung phone. Now, I was fully connected, both in Ramallah and at home. Once again, the Palestinian-Israeli divide had seeped into my (and practically all Palestinians') everyday lives.

Just like all of Jerusalem – east and west – is cut off from the West Bank, so is Jawwal. In west Jerusalem, there is no service at all for the mobile company. In east Jerusalem, one may get limited service in some areas of the Palestinian outskirts such as Beit Hanina. Once you enter the center of the city, however, Jawwal is officially defunct. Even in the Old City, which is predominantly Palestinian and is at the heart of the occupied sector of Jerusalem, Jawwal users cannot operate their mobiles (unless they have a roaming system, of course).

So, once I get home, my family and friends know they cannot call my Jawwal number if they want to reach me. That number is reserved for the daylight hours when I am on the other side of the border in the West Bank. Once at my desk, I hardly expect calls on my Israeli Orange number because service is so weak. Instead, Jawwal is in full service.

I have also realized that the best area of reception for both chips is none other than the abhorred Qalandiya checkpoint between Ramallah and Jerusalem. It is no wonder, I suppose, since Israel created the crossing on Palestinian land to isolate Jerusalem from its Palestinian surroundings. But right there, where Palestinian territory meets Israeli occupation, so is the meeting of cell phone receptions.

I am wondering what the situation is for Israeli settlements in the heart of the West Bank. For sure, Israel has reception towers in the settlements so Jewish settlers have no problem using their Israeli mobile phones there. Does Jawwal operate in Psagot, for example, which sits on a hilltop overlooking Ramallah and Al Bireh? Probably some service is available, but who would be in Psagot using a Jawwal number?

And so it is. Just like trying to explain the complex situation of different-colored ID cards to a foreigner is a long and winding conversation, so is the subject of mobile phones in Palestine. The geographic divisions Israel has imposed have manifested themselves into every aspect of life including mobile companies. So have the imbalances of power between Palestinians and Israelis. According to a July 8 article in Haaretz, Jawwal's frequency allotment (4.8 megahertz or MHz) is just a fraction of what Israeli cell phone companies are allotted. For example, Cellcom, Israel's leading cell phone company has an allotment of 37 MHz. An analyst for a European communications company quoted in the article said any major cell phone company would need a minimum of 10 MHz to operate sufficiently in the global market.

But, this is not the world, this is Israel. A perfect microcosm of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and its consequences can be best illustrated at the infamous Qalandia checkpoint/crossing. Upon arrival at the dreaded iron turnstiles and depending on how many people are queuing to cross, each person begins readying their ID cards, permits or birth certificates for Israeli security inspection. Mobiles ring constantly. "I'm still at the checkpoint. It's backed up to kingdom come," one man tells someone on the receiving end. "I should be there in 10 minutes," another woman says. "There are only about five people in front of me."

For those with Jerusalem ID cards, on the other side of the checkpoint, the phones continue to ring. "Could you pick me up? I just crossed," I hear a woman say, presumably to her husband. But Palestinians who crossed Qalandia with day permits on their West Bank IDs make hasty phone calls to those they need to meet in Jerusalem from their Jawwal phones before reception is lost. "I will meet you in half an hour. My mobile will have no service when I get there, so meet me at X or Y at 3:00."

Ok, the conversations may not be verbatim but I assume the gist has been captured. Just like Israel closes off its territories to Palestinians, including east Jerusalem, it also bans the Palestinians' mobile company from operating there. And just like Israel encroaches on the West Bank through its settlements and sporadic Israeli army invasions, so the reception of Israeli mobile companies in the West Bank is sporadic and unpredictable (except I presume in the settlements where there is full service).

Palestinians have always said Israel has long term plans on the ground, which it implements piece by piece. Today, the checkpoint system, the settlements and the separation wall have all but drawn unilateral de facto borders between the two peoples. If this were not enough evidence of Israel's land grab and colonialist aspirations, all it takes is to try to make a phone call on the opposite side of the fence to see that this is true.

Joharah Baker is a Writer for the Media and Information Program at the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH). She can be contacted at mip@miftah.org.

 
 
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