Separation Wall constructions in West Bank continued

Last month marked the passage of five years since the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague issued its landmark ruling which considered the gigantic separation barrier Israel was building in the West Bank illegal from the viewpoint of international law. The bulk of the barrier, officially called the Separation Wall, has already been constructed. In addition to the massive 8-metre-high concrete wall meandering like a snake throughout the West Bank, the barrier also consists of a massive network of multi-layered fences with vehicle-barrier trenches. The barrier is mostly located inside the West Bank, partly along the former 1949 Armistice line, and is largely built on confiscated Palestinian land. As of April 2006, the length of the barrier as approved by the Israeli government is 703 kilometres (436 miles) long. Nearly 60% of the barrier has already been constructed. On 9 July, the (ICJ) ruled that the barrier violated international law. While acknowledging Israel's right to protect its citizens, the Court said the Jewish State ought to do so within the law and should compensate Palestinians for property lost or damaged by the building of the wall. The ICJ urged the United Nations Security Council and General Assembly to consider further action to end the illegal activity. Israel completely ignored the ICJ ruling, claiming the international Court had no jurisdiction over the occupied Palestinian territories. Some Israeli officials tacitly accused ICJ judges of harbouring “anti-Semitism.” Since then, the Israeli military occupation authorities continued to seize large swathes of mostly private Palestinian land for building the wall and creating “safe zones,” especially on the Palestinian side of the barrier. It is widely believed that tens of thousands of acres of fertile Palestinian land have been formally or effectively confiscated. Some experts estimate that up to 10%-15% of the West Bank area has already been carved into Israel under the pretext of building the barrier. And when Palestinian farmers and peasants protest, even peacefully and non-violently as in Ni’ilin and Bil’in in the central West Bank, the Israeli army resorts to harsh tactics, including opening fire on protesters. Several Palestinians have already been killed while demonstrating against the seizure of their lands and groves by the Israeli army. A number of protesting foreign peace activists have also been injured by Israeli fire. Facing mounting international criticisms over the construction of the barrier, Israeli officials often resorted to prevarication and outright lies, claiming that the barrier was merely a security barrier designed to prevent potential Palestinian guerrillas from infiltrating into Israel and that it in no way constituted a political border. However, whenever Palestinian landowners petitioned Israeli courts challenging the legality of the land seizure, the Israeli government representative shamelessly argued that the wall was indeed a de facto border. The deceptive tactic continues to be widely adopted in Israeli courts dealing with the barrier and its ramifications, especially in relating to Palestinians demanding access to their land left on the “Israeli” side of the barrier. More to the point, it was amply clear during the so-called peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority that Israeli leaders treated the barrier as constituting the ultimate western borders of a future Palestinian State. For example, Israel refused to discuss the removal of any Jewish settlements located west of the separation wall on the ground that these colonies would eventually be annexed to the Jewish State. Today, more than 60,000 Israeli settlers live in settlements located east of the Separation Wall who are demanding the construction of periphery barriers around their colonies. However, under pressure from the U.S., Israel has effectively halted work on the so-called “finger enclaves” which extend deeply into the Palestinian hinterland in the northern West Bank, especially in the Salfit region where some of the biggest settlements are located. UN asserts illegality of barrier In July, the UN urged Israel to “dismantle” the barrier and “make reparation for all damage suffered by all persons affected by the Wall's construction” within the West Bank. The call was made by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay and came on the 5th anniversary of the ICJ ruling. Both UN agencies and non-governmental organizations dealing with the Palestinian issue have used the anniversary to bring attention to the massive losses which Palestinians have suffered as a result of the barrier. Earlier in July, another UN official reiterated the international organization’s “non- objection to the Wall per se when it sticks to the Green Line,” the erstwhile armistice line between Israel and the West Bank. The official spoke of the barrier’s “devastating humanitarian impact” on the Palestinian community, saying that up to 85% of the structure was built inside the West Bank. As many as 40,000 Palestinians have found themselves living in “closed areas” that require Israeli permission to travel out of their places of residence and vice versa. Another 200,000 Palestinians are surrounded on either three or four sides of the barrier resulting in what Palestinian spokesman Mustafa Barghouthi called “nightmarish claustrophobia.” The result, said one UN official, is an “interruption of Palestinian life in all aspects” impacting both economic and social well-being. For many Palestinians affected by the barrier this has meant the imposition of a complex permit system to allow them to travel, restricting access to education, medical care and employment opportunities. The wall, they complain, cuts off neighbour from neighbour, children from their schools and kindergartens, patients from hospitals and farmers from their farms and fields. For its part, Israel has been generally behaving rather nonchalantly with regard to the immense suffering and harm inflicted on the Palestinians as a result of the barrier. The Israeli propaganda machine often caricatures the gigantic structure as a mere “fence” between neighbours, ignoring the huge theft of Palestinian land carried out under the rubric of building the barriers. The Palestinians argue rightly that the “apartheid wall” is first and foremost an annexation barrier that is meant to steal Palestinian land under the pretext of security considerations. In July, the PA marked the fifth anniversary of the ICJ ruling by calling on the international community, particularly the U.S. and EU, to pressure Israel to dismantle the barrier. “This ugly barrier is devouring our land, disrupting the daily life of our people and making the attainment of the goal of creating a viable Palestinian State with East Jerusalem as its capital impossible,” read the statement.