entry in July on account of Ramadan. In the summer of 2015, for instance, Israel allowed 500 Palestinians to travel out of Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, which they are normally prohibited from using.36 Permitting Palestinians to practice their right to worship or to travel has not only become a negotiable issue in the context of the so-called ‘peace process’, but has also been bestowed at the discretion of Israeli authorities as a ‘privilege’, rather than respected as a right. This indicates that the Israeli closure system is designed to serve a political purpose, rather than security concerns. Inside the West Bank While Israel continues its policies of building and expanding colonies, an ever-increasing number of Palestinians are prevented from accessing their agricultural land in the vicinities of these colonies. Israel only allows Palestinian farmers access to their privately-owned land near the colonies after ‘prior coordination’ with their local District Civil Liaison office, and when Palestinian farmers are able to obtain a permit to access their land, such a permit is only valid for an entirely inadequate period of time, typically lasting for no more than a few days at a time. Since 2006, the use of permits as a means to control Palestinians’ access to their own land has increased, especially in areas where Israeli colonizers have previously attacked the Palestinian landowners.37 Prohibiting Palestinians from accessing their private land, even if they undergo security checks, cannot objectively be said to improve the security of Israel. Furthermore, Israel has also established 57 internal checkpoints, as well as hundreds of ‘flying checkpoints’38 within the West Bank.39 The Palestinians who pass through these checkpoints are not entering Israel, and to contest, therefore, that such internal checkpoints are necessary to protect Israelis is an argument without logical foundation. The same is true for the internal checkpoints and road blocks set up within East Jerusalem in late 2015, which, 36 Daoud Kuttab, “What's behind Israel's easing of travel restrictions?”, Al-Monitor, 26 June 2015, at:http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/06/israel-travel-relaxation-policy-palestiniansramadan.html# 37 OCHA oPt, West Bank Movement and Access Update, Special Focus, September 2012. Available at : http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_movement_and_access_report_september_2012_ english.pdf page 27 38 Flying Checkpoints are checkpoints set up without prior warning and they are also sometimes disbanded without any explanation. In December 2014 there were 456 flying checkpoints and in April 2015 there were 361. B’Tselem, “Checkpoints, Physical Obstructions, and Forbidden Roads”, 16 January 2011 / 20 May 2015, available at: http://www.btselem.org/freedom_of_movement/ checkpoints_and_forbidden_roads 39 B’Tselem, “Checkpoints, Physical Obstructions, and Forbidden Roads”, 16 January 2011 / 20 May 2015, available at: http://www.btselem.org/freedom_of_movement/checkpoints_and_forbidden_roads 17