Wall of death

These Palestinian greenhouses where fruit and vegetables are grown will be demolished to make way for the wall. Surveyors have marked the spot in red.

The situation had deteriorated since our last visit and it was very difficult to travel around the occupied territories. We were faced with constant restrictions to movement such as checkpoints, closures and curfews imposed by the Israeli army. Despite this we managed to meet a wide range of Israeli and Palestinian organisations, trade unions and women’s groups. Throughout the visit the message was consistent – the ongoing Israeli military occupation is the problem.

The Israeli Government, while talking in international circles about a resolution of the conflict, is massively expanding its matrix of control over the Occupied Territories by military checkpoints, expanding Jewish settlements and the ‘Israeli only’ road system, and erecting a massive wall to separate the Palestinians from Israel. Maps already show the road and settlement networks creating several geographically disconnected Palestinian areas known as Bantustans that will not be economically viable. Seeing once again the reality of apartheid was a shock to me even though I was reasonably well informed.

Israel has recently begun building a massive wall to “isolate” Palestinians from Israelis. The wall is not being built on Israel’s border, but to the east of Green Line in the occupied Palestinian territories. It will effectively lead to the destruction of large number of greenhouses, the uprooting of thousands of trees and confiscation of fertile land and water resources, thereby de facto annexing more Palestinian land.

Israel started preparations for the construction of its apartheid wall on June 16, 2002, near the village Salem, west of Jenin, towards the south, reaching Tulkarem. Israeli officials have stated the motives behind the construction of the wall are 'security reasons' and that it will be finished by the end of this year. The wall will separate fourteen villages and isolate them from their agricultural lands. The first phase of the wall will be 115 kilometres (70 miles) long, it will include fences, trenches and security patrols. Eventually in its final phase it will be extended to the full 350-km (220 mile) length of the West Bank.

Israel's apartheid wall is projected to be three times the length and twice the height of the Berlin Wall, unilaterally annexing approximately 10% of the West Bank, 57 Israeli settlements illegally built on seized Palestinian lands, 303,000 Israeli settlers and almost 290,000 Palestinians. After the apartheid wall is completed, the town of Qalqilya will be transformed into an isolated canton, surrounded on all sides by the wall, with only one entrance and exit point. It is expected that Palestinians will have to apply for special permits to enter or exit the area.

Ariel Sharon's old-new plan to separate and seal off East Jerusalem from its Palestinian neighbourhoods and the rest of the occupied West Bank is a plan in progress. In line with this plan, the Israeli military is continuing its establishment of a new separation zone along the northern boundaries of Bethlehem. This zone will result in the annexation of 15 Km² of total area of Bethlehem district. Recently, a number of Israeli confiscation and house demolition orders were issued and handed out to Bethlehem, Beit Jala and Beit Sahour municipalities.

Apart from building the wall, the Israeli army has also begun erecting electrified fences around Palestinian controlled “Areas A” (consisting of approximately 17.2% of the West Bank divided into 13 separate non-contiguous ghettos). The wall, the fences and the new movement restrictions for Palestinians effectively cage Palestinians into Israeli-created ghettos or Bantustans. The restrictions will not only be on freedom of movement of individuals but also of goods and services, thereby worsening an already deep humanitarian crisis and crippled Palestinian economy.

Human rights organisations claim that building this wall, as well as other unilateral separation measures by the Israeli military violate international law, UN Resolutions. Under the Fourth Geneva Convention, to which Israel is a signatory, the destruction or seizure of property in occupied territories is forbidden, as is collective punishment. Article 47 outlines that occupying powers must not make changes to property in occupied territories. Requisition of land in occupied territories is prohibited under Article 52 of the Hague Regulations of 1907, which is a part of customary international law. Occupiers cannot make any changes in status of occupied territories. Israel's apartheid wall seizes, destroys and permanently changes the status of occupied territories.

The Israeli High Court chose not to accept the human rights organisations’ argument that based on the map of the apartheid wall, political considerations (annexing fertile lands, water resources and settlements to Israel), rather than security or military considerations were directing the route of the wall.
Israel is seeking to annex parts of the occupied Palestinian territories by establishing militarily enforced Palestinian ghettos corresponding to the Palestinian population centres, while continuing its illegal colonisation policy. The wall will ensure that Palestinians are denied the ability to move, while Israeli settlers will be able to freely travel throughout the occupied Palestinian territories.

Israel’s attempts to change the geographical and the demographical shapes of the occupied territories either by changing its boundaries or separating them from one another will not change in any way the status of them as an occupied territory. However, any final talks between the Palestinians and the Israelis will indeed be further complicated by the violations committed by the Israeli government in creating more facts on the ground to reinforce its diktat over the negotiations with Palestinians.

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