Apartheid Wall
The European Union has repeatedly issued statements ranging from “deep concerns about” the Wall to “calls for” the halting of the confiscation of Palestinian land and the construction of the Wall. However, the words are hollow in front of the continuous support the EU gives Israel, even if this implies breaching its own laws. Surprising as it may seem, Europe – occupying rank number one for Israel’s imports and rank number two for its exports – has as much economic muscle in the region as the United States. If it were not for support from the US and EU, Israel...
The US Administration has particular interest in supporting Israel and its expansionist agenda– US support for the Wall does not veer from this fundamental position. US support for the Israeli state is rooted in the US military industry and the “use” of Israel as an “ally” in strategic regional interests in the Middle East. Funding Israel militarily serves the US military industry/economy as Israel spends the majority of aid on weapons, including fighter jets, tanks, and bulldozers, from US manufacturers which are then used against the entire Palestinian population. US support for Israel also ensures it as a military stronghold...
The Israeli government favors the Apartheid Wall because it furthers its agenda, policies, and actions of expelling the indigenous Palestinians for the colonization of land and “resettlement” of Jewish communities in “Greater Israel”. This is a clear goal of the Israeli government with the Wall, as the Wall carves away massive amounts of land in the West Bank, creating the largest single annexation of land since the 1967 Occupation; when completed, the Wall will leave less than 12% of historic Palestine for the indigenous population. Through building the Wall the Israeli government is pressing on with the forced expulsion of Palestinians...
Though some perceive the Wall to contradict the “Road Map”, in fact they are perfectly complementary and share aims that correlate with the Israeli government’s agenda. In the autumn of 2002 Israeli Prime Minister Sharon advocated a “Palestinian State” with borders that “overlap with territories A and B [which Israel determined during the Oslo process], except for essential security zones”. This would leave some 50% of the West Bank for part of a “Palestinian State” that is being created by the Wall through the formation of Palestinian ghettos. Although Israel has flagrantly violated international law since 1948, the Wall “relieves”...
The Wall, as well as the Occupation itself, comprises a wide range of violations to international law. A major violation of the Apartheid Wall is the unilateral demarcation of a new border in the West Bank that amounts to effective annexation of occupied land (United Nations Charter, art. 2.4). Furthermore, destruction for and building of the Wall has amounted to numerous more violations of the IV Geneva Convention (IV GC) including the destruction of land and/or property (art. 53) and collective punishment (art. 33). The Wall also breaches the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR, 1966) and the...
It is entirely unacceptable to build the Wall on the 1967 Green Line-there is a fundamental injustice in caging in an entire population. While the 1967 Green Line is advocated by the UN and many others to be the “international border” between Israel and the West Bank, the fact is that, following the 1948 war and the Zionist proclamation of the State of Israel, communities were forcibly and artificially divided into east/west by this “border”. However, the residents continue to share social services, markets, and familiar ties. To advocate that the Wall could be built on the 1967 Green Line...
The Wall is the continuation of the Zionist/Israeli expansionist agenda of stealing Palestinian land and forcibly expelling residents-the Wall’s path equates to the de facto annexation of nearly 50% of the West Bank and almost all of the Israeli settlements. Around Jerusalem the Wall is completing the Zionist/Israeli project of “Greater Jerusalem”, formally endorsed by the Knesset in 1997, which aims at “judaizing” and annexing East Jerusalem into a Jewish metropolitan area. As explained in Question 2, the Wall closes Jerusalem off to the north and south of the West Bank, but remains “open” to the east for the still expanding settlement...
The Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign is calling for: 1) the immediate cessation of the building of the Wall, 2) the dismantling of all parts of the Wall and its related zones already built, 3) the return of lands confiscated for the path of the Wall, and 4) the compensation of damages and lost income due to the destruction of land and property (this compensation is in addition to, not instead of, restitution of land). For more information read About the Campaign....
The notion of “access” gates where the Israeli military will “permit” Palestinians to travel to their land demonstrates the Wall’s institutionalization and follows the Israeli “permit” system which began during the 1993 Oslo Process whereby the Israeli government has been consolidating absolute control over every aspect of life in Palestine through dictating all aspects of movement. The Israeli government’s rhetoric of “gates” and movement has amounted to the complete denial of the basic right to freedom of movement for Palestinians. The reality of “access” gates on the ground is the severe humiliation of Palestinians by the Israeli military and private...
The Wall is devastating every aspect of Palestinian life-already tens of communities have experienced the loss of land, water, and resources which provide their sustenance as well as the destruction of community and personal property. Palestinian villages and towns near the Wall have become isolated ghettos where movement in and out is limited, if not impossible, thus severing travel for work, health, education, and visits to friends and family. For instance, in the 18 communities surrounded into an enclave in the Tulkarem district the inability to travel due to the Wall and Israeli military “closures” has brought the unemployment rate...