Israelis call it the "security barrier." For Palestinians, it is the "apartheid wall."
Since 2002, Israel has been building this massive concrete partition in the Palestinian-controlled West Bank. For the Israeli government, the structure has been a way to limit the number of Palestinian suicide bombers that can enter Israel. But it has also divided villages in the West Bank - most famously, Bili'n - and separated Palestinians from huge chunks of their own land and Arab East Jerusalem.
Every Friday, for the past five years, hundreds of Palestinians have gathered in Bili'n, just west of Ramallah, to wage mainly peaceful protests against the partition. In late 2007, the protesters scored a significant victory when the Supreme Court of Israel ruled that the partition needed to be rerouted, in order to give the villagers of Bili'n back more of their farmland. Last month, after two-and-a-half years, the Israelis began reconstructing that section of the partition, which is expected to return approximately 400 acres of land to Bili'n and other nearby villages.
However, this move by the Israelis is not enough to pacify angry Palestinian protesters in Bili'n and other areas of the West Bank who feel cheated and disenfranchised by the partition.
"I would be surprised if the Palestinians stop protesting," said former U.S. Ambassador Philip C. Wilcox, Jr., now the president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace. "The real goal is to bring [the wall] back to the Green Line," he said, referring to the border that separated Israel from the West Bank before the Israelis captured the territory in 1967. Indeed, sections of the partition have been built well east of the Green Line, in defiance of calls by the international community for the development of a two-state solution along Israel's pre-1967 borders.
Even with the new rerouting plan, the partition encompasses the majority of Israeli settlements in the West Bank - also east of the Green Line - giving them a sense of permanence. "The barrier increases Palestinian anger by stealing more land and separating more Palestinians from their livelihoods, and further confining the Palestinians to an even smaller part of their former homeland," said Rashid Khalidi, the Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University.
The Israeli settlements are considered a grave impediment to the development of a Palestinian state, and a violation of international law by the United Nations. In 2004, the International Court of Justice at The Hague pronounced the construction of the partition illegal under international law.
"The rerouting of the wall by Bili'n--I don't see it as that meaningful of a decision," said Philip Weiss, founder of the Mondoweiss blog, a project of The Nation Institute that analyzes Middle East issues. For Weiss, the rerouting does not address what he sees as the larger injustices caused by the partition. For example, the checkpoints the Palestinians must go through to get into Israel, he said, are "reminiscent of totalitarian Europe."
In a recent interview with Democracy Now, Jonathan Pollak, an Israeli human rights activist and founder of the group Anarchists Against the Wall, seemed to draw a similar conclusion. "While being a victory, this is only a partial victory," he said of the rerouting of the partition. "And, it should be clear that the resistance to the wall will continue wherever it is built, in Bili'n as well, until the wall is dismantled entirely."
But despite the outcry against the partition by Palestinians and members of the international community, experts say the Israelis appear to remain committed to the structure as a key component of their security, at least for the time being.
Experts also tend to think, in spite of their overall reservations, that the partition has made Israel safer on a day-to-day basis. "It almost certainly discouraged suicide attacks," Wilcox said. Weiss agreed, noting, "The wall has reduced suicide bombings, which is an important element of Israel's security."
However, while Israel's security has been further enhanced, the possibility of a viable Palestinian state has become increasingly remote. "There can't be a Palestinian state if the current trajectory of the wall is maintained because it cuts deep into the West Bank," Wilcox said, noting that Palestinians there have been cut off from blocks of vital farmland and water supplies.
With this larger issue of statehood in the balance, it remains unlikely that protests against the partition will end any time soon.
Khalidi, for one, believes the partition is a major obstacle to creating a Palestinian state, and that unrest will continue. How can a state be established "on a fraction of a fraction of Palestine, in isolated islands separated from one another by vast swathes of settlements?" he said. "How can anyone without Orwellian distortion or cynical cruelty call that a state?"
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"Semite" means a member of any of Semitic-speaking people originating from southwestern Asia, including Canaanites, Phoenicians, Hebrews, Arabs, and Ethiopian Semites.
If Israelis are not happy with what they get, they can always try to swap with the Palestinians... The Palestinians might probably be happy to swap...
Israelis couldn't have won all their wars all alone, so they cannot negotiate as sole winners...We're talking here about some 10 million people. -Okay, Equatorial Guinea is only about 2/3 of a million people...
Could any country, qualifying itself as of a specific religious group, be fully democratic, without any kind of discrimination ?
After building the wall and illegally seizing the land, the Israelis build residential housing, swimming pools, kindergartens and social centers.
None of those developments serve any purpose for the defense of Israel nor utility of the Israeli military. Its not defense. Its colonization by force.
Who else should the Israeli government care about? Sounds like they're doing their job.
What did they expected when they elected Iranian puppets and Jihadist franchisee of Muslim Brotherhood to rule them?!!
Peace? Tranquility? Better relationships with Israel and the world?!
They wanted to fight. Fine. They got they fight. But now when they both lost Intifada and Gaza war , the whining is deafening.
Well too bad, isn't it.
Mr. Khalidi obviosuly never protested the wave of terorsit attacks on israeli people that led to the construction of the Security Barrier.
Obviously, he never found the relnetless terrorist attacks as an answer to Israel letting PLO in as a "major obstacle". So it matters little what Khalidi thinks now,.
Palestinains first picking the fight and then complaining when they're defeated....
Israelis, Jordanians, Syrians, Lebanese and Egyptians are well familiar with astonishingly hypocritical and politically immature Palestinian M.O.
Apart from oil, Arab countries are only producing anti-Semitism and terror.
Seriously, the concept that because a country was recognized in 1948 on a land that was owned legally by others and were forcibly driven from that land by different methods doesn't mean that these people don't have any rights anymore. The US now is somehow making it up to the native Americans. Just because war changes boundaries should not prevent the oppressed from asking for their land back or for compensation. Erecting a wall right across whatever is left should not change the truth: That the UN resolutions have not been enforced.
We have to really pick what law both sides should use: The law of war, or the international law and apply it to both parties equally. I am for a peaceful resolution where Israelis and Palestinians can live together. I am sure that level-headed people from both sides will accept. Remove prejudice and hate and they will prosper.
Just the fact that we are debating this is a vast improvement over what has allowed this conflict to fester and root for the past 60 or more years.
It used to be...western media says it, and it was cemented into the mindset of America...no more conversation. It has always been until recently Palistinians and Islam bad, Israel, Christians and Jews good.
I remember the old American westerns. I remember indiginous Americans always protrayed as savages, or dependant people. No one complained because no one knew the indiginous Americans. We both know that the stereotype was never true.
Now articles like this, rather than being placed in the record as 'fact', it becomes the beginning of a conversation. Many people adding thier ideas,and thoughts to the mix, many recall contridictions, or bring in other facts that explain that are 'omitted' from the article.
So...discussion is good on this issue. No longer allows a single person or group to have sole ownership of 'the truth' defined as he wants it to be.
We still have to battle against the old mindset, this is true, but more and more the 'alternative truth' created and cultured so long is coming apart.
This issue will not be solved by guns and airplanes, but a world consensus that what we have now cant be sustained and have world peace at the same time.
This is the power of the truth.
The economy of the West Bank grew by 8%. There is a drop in unemployment in the West Bank. Tourism increased 94% in Bethlehem, and 31% in Jenin, which resulted in a 42% increase in hotel stays. And the list goes on and on. Yes, discussion is excellent, but we must come with facts and data, not emotions and allegations. I am glad that *the alternative truth created and cultured for so long is coming apart*, and yes, *we* still have a battle against the old mindset.
The year is 2010. Everywhere people have had setbacks of all kinds, but they move on and forward. In the U.S. many persons lost homes, all their savings, by no fault of their own. I do not see, or hear, endless citations of historic facts. If one has a business and has a loss, stewing over it, seeking revenge, only goes so far. At some point one must cut one's losses and move on.
Complete BS
I have neither the time nor the inclination to educate you and the others here who believe that nonsense.
There are books on the subject.
In short, most so called palestinians are arabs whose families arrived after 1900 in a massive influx of illegal immigration. This was documented in great detail by the British who controlled the mandate. Additionally, most of the land was owned by "states", not individuals. The Turks owned ( by way of conquest) most of the land until the British arrived. Some of the land was owned privately by absentee Turkish landlords who sold much of it to the Jews at inflated prices.
Repeating the arab propaganda does not make it true.
The arabs have created a myth that suits their goals of islamic imperialism.
To rant on about Arabs coming to Palestine is meaningless. n The fact is the Zionists used terrorist tactics to drive the people who owned the land from their homes and their land. Their villages were then bulldozed and Zionist communities were built on the land stolen from the legal owners. The villages were renamed. The process has been going on for a hundred years. You seem to think it was alright to drive out the Arabs so why isn't it right to drive out the Zionists and let the nonArab Palestinians have their land back? Something is wrong here. The last I heard the Germans were helping Israel financially and with special privileges and the Jews who lost property were still going after it and demanding reimbursment. So how come the Palestinians don't have the same riht. Zonists should at least pay for what they stole. And that includes the water that is stolen everyday and the houses which are still being bulldozed and the groves which are being burned by the odd irate settler.
Peace for all including the misguided on both sides.
"Experts also tend to think, in spite of their overall reservations, that the partition has made Israel safer on a day-to-day basis. "It almost certainly discouraged suicide attacks," Wilcox said. Weiss agreed, noting, "The wall has reduced suicide bombings, which is an important element of Israel's security."
The US builds its anti-immigrant fence. Lots of illegal immigrants are in fact stopped by it. My question: Have we done anything to address the root causes of immigration to the US (multinational and US corporations decimating local businesses in Mexico and Latin America ala Chaquita bananas in jamaica; US businesses and consumers demanding cheap labor to make cheap products)? No. Same with Isr. Treating the symptom, not the cause. And, IMHO, rather poorly.
I understand your point, but I also would like to point out, that Israel has been attempting to get to the root of the problem since 1948. Since 1948, Israel has not seen a day of peace. Since moment one they've been terrorized by the Arabs around them. Israel understands that there is a lot more to gain by living peacefully side-by-side than duking it out until heaven knows when. This is why Israel has Palestinians in it's administration. This is why there is over 20% of Palestinian Arabs that live in Israel who have equal rights are citizens of Israel.
I believe in my heart of hearts, that most people on both sides of the fence (no pun intended) are exhausted. I believe in my heart of hearts, that the average Haim or Khabir want to raise a family have a job that covers expenses and a decent life. But, the Palestinians keep running away from any reasonable offer of peace. Which leads me to think that they either, don't understand what it means to negotiate, or they are not interested in peace. ALL nations have a right to defend themselves, the "Hafrada" seems to have been monumental in it's success.
The problem is never solved by barriers. The problem is solved by getting at the root causes. Walls only delay dealing with the problem.
What about the 34,000 sq-miles of Jordan which had been "Palestine" for 1,750 years? Isn't THAT also part of the same "former homeland"? The word-smithing is endless.
"In 2004, the International Court of Justice at The Hague pronounced the construction of the partition illegal under international law." Because they started from the false assumption that the Armistice lines of 1948 were legitimate national borders, which they are not, have never been and can't be proven to be. This underlying issue has never been adjudicated. It is merely leap-frogged, to produce a legal result that is less likely to spawn terrorism within the EU nations." . . the checkpoints the Palestinians must go through to get into Israel, he said, are "reminiscent of totalitarian Europe" The WB Palestinian-Arabs are not Israeli citizens. Why is that simple fact so impossible to acknowledge? Israel is within its legal and moral rights to deny them entry completely. More filth. I've run out of available space which is fine because I've also run out of Malox.
I, and others, have pointed out to you, several times, that since shortly following WW2, it is inadmissable to acquire territory through war, defensive or offensive, in international law.
Please do us all a favour, and digest that simple point.
This is only intended for people who are basically OK with Israel's existence, at least as an idea. If your not in this group, just skip over, noone cares what you think.
So the land past the 1948 armstice lines are considered entirely Palestinian land; personally, I think that's debatable, but lets assume its true.
So during Israel's existence, it fought a bunch of wars with a bunch of people looking to end it as a country. Those same people clearly don't seem to be able to fight that kind of war anymore; noone doubts Israel could clear deck in another conventional war.
But... those same people Israel fought back in the day don't seem to be inclined to change their overall convictions
Also... the Jews waited two thousand years to found Israel, so, they tend to think in the long term.
With that in mind, I present:
http://theoptimisticconservative.wordpress.com/2009/06/05/the-next-phase-of-world-war-iv-part-2/
So if in general the land belongs more to the Palestinians than to the Israelis, is it OK for Israel to keep/swap some land, for the sake of long-term safety? How about if, geographically, its possible for the Palestinians to live normal lives with that amount of land gone (like, say 10%)?
What do you guys think?
p.s. my disclaimer was directed at you, Aly
le sigh
Must the state of Palestine start out Jew-Free? Is that a prerequisite? If so, why doesn't that bother anyone?
Palistine can be built with anyone who wants to live in Palistine. They have lived together for hundreds of years before 1948 in peace.
No one in Palistine is proposing a 'Jewish free state". The Palistinians are not building cement walls, and using soldiers to defend illegal settlement of land not belonging to them.
The problem with Israel is, they dont want a Palistine, nor the Palistinians, nor the Christians and Muslims, nor Arabs, nor do they want to stay on thier side of the border.
Of course you will say...Israel is a democracy for all. I ask you, what was the last masjid or church built in Israel? Do they restrict the rights of anyone to worship in thier own buildings? How many Arabs or Muslims are in the Kinesset? What does thier Constitution say about equal rights. Where is the map defining thier political borders?...
I am sure Palistinians dont care about Jews living amonst them...they care about Jews living in the homes they used to live in before being removed by force.
You are incorrect. What Israel wants is to exist in peace and if all those others accept her right to exist and to live side by side in peace, there wold not be a wall. The situation is bad enough- don't make it worse by exaggeration and half-truths.
And if you want to know what the Israeli Constitution says or how many Arabs are in the Knesset, why don't you just google it? Don't make it sound like some dark secret.
You are speaking untruths. Israel was built by immigrants of all denominations. Perhaps this is why Israel is so advanced, is a democracy and is thriving. Can not be said the same about the palestinians.
** I ask you, what was the last masjid or church built in Israel?**
* Mount of Beatitudes
C
* Church of the Beatitudes
D
* Domus Galilaeae
I
* Immanuel Church (Tel Aviv-Yafo)
Do they restrict the rights of anyone to worship in thier own buildings? How many Arabs or Muslims are in the Kinesset? What does thier Constitution say about equal rights. Where is the map defining thier political borders?...
I am sure Palistinians dont care about Jews living amonst them...they care about Jews living in the homes they used to live in before being removed by force.
What if these same people, along with the European front groups supporting them had gathered every Friday to demand a stop to the suicide terrorism campaign launched by the Palestinians that resulted in the deaths of over 2,000 Israelis in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv in discos, buses, restaurants, temples, etc. What if there had been any Palestinians to demand an end to their genocidal collective terror campaign? Maybe the security barrier would not now exist. Maybe these hundreds of Palestinians who gather weekly might want to have a "teach in" about the suicide terrorism campaign and the children that were murdered by these terrorists so everyone would be well aware of the whole reason the barrier was built in the first place
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Palestinian_suicide_attacks#Total_number_of_fatalities.2C_by_year
789 Israeli deaths from suicide bombings in 15 years.
Compare that with 1000+ civilian deaths in 22 days in Gaza
The simple solution would be to align with International Law and end the occupation, now in it's 43rd year. But Israel values land more than peace - or Israeli lives for that matter. Palestinian lives don;t even register a blip on Israel's radar, so dehumanised have they been.