The Apartheid Wall in Palestine- what you don’t know
август 31, 2009
This is a report from the book “The Wall in Palestine: Facts, Testimonies, Analysis and Call to Action”, I found t interesting to the non-musulman and I think it’s interesting to know that things like this happen even in our democracy 21st century…
The Wall: Current Devastation and Future Plans
In June 2002, Israel began implementing the next stage of its expansionist and repressive program by building
a Wall inside the West Bank that would run at least the West Bank’s entire length. Not surprisingly, the path of the
ever-winding Wall would follow, consistently, the logic of land confiscation and control, including the annexation
of settlements and the caging off of built-up, Palestinian areas. Contrary to worldwide news reports, the Wall (also
referred to as the “fence”, “separation barrier”, and particularly deceptively the “security fence”) will not mark the
1967 border, also known as the Green Line. The Wall is in fact a major land grab and a sealing of the fate of the
Occupied Territories and of Palestine.
Currently, signs of the Wall—and its impact—can be seen in its “first phase” taking place in the Qalqiliya, Tulkarm,
and Jenin districts, along with current construction and destruction for the Wall that is taking place in Jerusalem
and Bethlehem. In all of these areas, the Wall is nearing completion; Israel announced the completion of 27
kilometers of the Wall in April 2003. In the first phase areas alone, which represent only 1/3 of the Wall (in its
shortest form), 65 communities will be affected, including over 200,000 people. So far, massive destruction has
been felt by communities including the razing of agricultural land, damage to irrigation networks, isolation of
water resources, and the demolition of homes and community infrastructure; all of this atop of the prevention
of accessing their land, markets, and traveling for employment and to visit family. The Wall’s first phase draws
attention to the affects of the Wall and the expected impacts of its existence and continuation.
The Wall in its current mapping snakes its way inside the West Bank at points up to 6 kilometers, such as by
Jayyus and ‘Isla in Qalqiliya district, effectively confiscating substantial amounts of Palestinian land. Amidst these
devastating prospects and “developments,” Israel is nearing the final approval of an expanded Wall plan which
will move the Wall even further east, up to 16 km inside the West Bank in order to annex settlements such as Ariel,
Immanuel, and Kedumim. At the same time, the Israeli proposal for a second Wall along the Jordan Valley and
running somewhat parallel to the first Wall, which was publicly introduced in March 2003, is soon to begin. With
the construction of the expanded and second Wall, Israel will isolate—amidst plans of direct control—some 1/2 of
the West Bank, as the Wall will run the length of over 650 kilometers!
Today, in Jerusalem, the Wall is furthering the complete isolation of the heart of Palestine. Once the commercial,
social, religious, and historical center of the West Bank, and to all of historic Palestine prior to 1948, this city
has become inaccessible to the majority of Palestinians under the Israeli closure system that began some ten
years ago and which the Wall is now solidifying. In Bethlehem, also a religious and cultural center in Palestine,
the Wall is severing the city’s connection with Jerusalem, the rest of the West Bank, and among communities
within the area.
Moreover, east of the Green Line along the first phase, it is expected that an additional, parallel wall, as well as
portions of the Trans-Israel Highway, will be built, further isolating the areas between the Wall and the Green
Line and expelling residents from their villages. The Wall is a continuation and magnification of the closure and
siege policy and a major “tool” to further shrink the already existing Palestinian ghettos. The impact of the Wall
cannot be underrated.
The Wall’s Structure
The Wall takes on a number of physical forms, such as the one in Qalqiliya, which is some 8-meters high made
of concrete and lined with watchtowers, as well as other areas where the Wall is a series of fences, some of
which are electric, and may include some or all of the following: trenches, roads, barbed wires, cameras, trace
paths for footprints, buffer zones, and spanning a width between 70-100 meters. In Bethlehem the Wall consists
of both structures: fences (including electric), buffer zones, sensors, trenches, and barbed wires, included of
which is a by-pass road for complete isolation of the city from the West Bank, as well as a concrete Wall that is
to encircle part of the community. Whatever the structural differences, the affects are the same.
The idea of the Wall is not new, both conceptually and literally. Talk within Israel and its establishment of
erecting barriers and further isolating Palestinian communities precedes the start of the Intifada. The majority
of the Wall’s projection continues to be kept secret by the Israeli military and government. Maps that exist
today of the Wall, the expanded Wall, and the second Wall are based on Israeli military confiscation orders
which farmers received and which were accompanied by small maps of their communities, as well as maps
produced by the Yesha settlers council with the support of the Israeli Ministry of Defense. In addition, leaks
and statements to the Israeli media and the Israeli courts by the military and government, though sporadic, also
function as sources of information. The military has officially refused to publish the map of the Wall, and any
public acquisition of maps of the first phase of the Wall have been after the destruction begins, and usually
indirectly through a map being given to a particular locality or served to an Israeli judge in a court hearing.
Sealing the Fate
The official Israeli rhetoric which states that (dehumanizing) crossing points for people and goods along the Wall
will be established is not expected to come into fruition on any practical level, since Israel’s permit system is
a notorious pretense for closure and violation of freedom of movement. According to the Israeli Human Rights
organization B’Tselem, Israel did not allocate enough money in this year’s budget for such crossings, giving
just enough time for much of the lands in the first phase areas to dry out. The spiral of land confiscation and
indescribable human suffering in the Occupied Territories is the direct cause of Israel’s relentless ability to act
with impunity, accompanied by strategic lip service.
Amidst communities facing Israel’s destructions, there has been insufficient outcry both nationally and
internationally. Communities where the Wall is currently being built have been expressing their disappointment
with the Palestinian Authority’s lack of support for their suffering; the communities continue to demand that the
Authority take a strong position against the Wall and make a precondition for any “negotiations” with Israel to
halt all construction of the Wall, return confiscated lands to its rightful owners, and compensate those who had
land and property damaged or destroyed. On the international level, the limited exposure and knowledge of the
Wall only further highlights the discrepancy between what is presented and what is actually taking place; the
need to make the facts known is critical.
The expanded Wall and the Jordan Valley Wall together surface a map of the West Bank sliced on two sides,
with two large, disconnected areas in the middle, and within them numerous ghettos of villages and towns with
no freedom of movement, surrounded by settlements, military bases, by-pass roads, and checkpoints. If the
expanded Wall and second Wall are completed, the West Bank will be divided into three disconnected cantons
with movement between nearly impossible. As a façade of negotiations is being brokered over the creation of
a Palestinian state, in actuality the Wall—called by the Campaign as the Apartheid Wall–is shaping the future of
Palestine as it solidifies the Occupation’s incessant injustices to the Palestinian people.
Инициативата Click a Tree
август 19, 2009
Инициативата Click a Tree
Покажете готовността си да действате срещу климатичните промени: Засадете дърво!
Добре дошъл на сайта на Европейската комисия „Кликни и засади дърво“.
Всяка година дърветата абсорбират около 9 милиарда тона въглероден диоксид, но заради постоянното им изсичане почти два милиарда тона остават в атмосферата. Чрез засаждане на повече дървета можем да балансираме климата на Европа и да направим обкръжението си малко по-зелено!
Включете се в нашето състезание и популяризирайте нуждата от действия срещу все по-застрашителните промени в климата.
Европейската комисия кани всички млади европейци да се включат в инициативата Click a Tree и да се противопоставят на климатичните промени.
Дай своя принос към природата като засадиш дърво днес! Включи се в кампанията като се регистрираш тук.
Като един от първите 5 000 участници ще получите от Европейската комисия безплатно младо дръвче (Euonymus europeus, 15 – 20 см високо). То ще ви бъде доставено заедно с инструкции как да го засадите. Всичко, което трябва да направите, е да вземете дръвчето, да прегледате съветите за засаждане, да засадите дръвчето и да го снимате. Качете снимката и имате шанс да спечелите великолепно приключение в лагера за еко-обучение.
Поемете дълбоко въздух и се посветете на идеята сега. Прочетете повече за Предизвикателството.
Допълнителна информация за борбата срещу изменението на климата можете да намерите на http://ec.europa.eu/climateaction.
I feel sLOVEnia ♥
август 19, 2009
