The racist Wall:
What were described above were bad enough. But perhaps worse, in a way, was the creation of a wall, described by various commentators as a "huge barrier, racist construction, separation barricade, a tool of settlement expansion or an apartheid partition". Although the previous Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is known to have brought up the issue of the so-called "security fence", racial discrimination goes to a much earlier date and attitude, as expressed by the assassinated PM Yitzhak Rabin who said: "We are here, and they are there". The separation barrier, snaking into the Palestinian-owned lands, is composed of thick cement walls, deep ditches, and high-voltage electric fences. Pushing the Green Line aside, the wall now introduces a 'new border'. It stretches from northeastern part of the West Bank to its southern most region and to the east of the Green Line and swallows vast arable and fertile Palestinian lands, isolating residential areas, forcing the indigenous residents to take refuge once more, and creating several hazardous economic and social consequences. The wall's length in the West Bank is 360 kilometers, and the width ranges between 80 and 100 meters. It penetrates some kilometers into Palestinian territory, for instance, ten kilometers into Salfit City. Some of the Palestinians houses are left between the saparation wall and the illegal settlements. The wall has racist features because it is designed to separate two peoples, who had lived in peace some time in the distant past. Now, there are barbed wires to obstruct access. Between East and West Jerusalem, there is also a separation wall, ostensibly 11 kilometers but actually 57 km. because it also snakes into Palestinian (and Jewish) areas. Here too, it swallows vast Palestinian lands, forcing Arab Jerusalemites to get out of or enter Jerusalem through special Israeli gates. The total surface area lost to the Palestinians, on account of the separation wall, adds up to 164.783 dunums (about ¼ acre) of Palestinian agricultural land. Some of the U.S. financial support of $9 billion will probably be used for the wall and Jewish settlements, none of which can help bring peace and security to the area.
What were described above were bad enough. But perhaps worse, in a way, was the creation of a wall, described by various commentators as a "huge barrier, racist construction, separation barricade, a tool of settlement expansion or an apartheid partition". Although the previous Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is known to have brought up the issue of the so-called "security fence", racial discrimination goes to a much earlier date and attitude, as expressed by the assassinated PM Yitzhak Rabin who said: "We are here, and they are there". The separation barrier, snaking into the Palestinian-owned lands, is composed of thick cement walls, deep ditches, and high-voltage electric fences. Pushing the Green Line aside, the wall now introduces a 'new border'. It stretches from northeastern part of the West Bank to its southern most region and to the east of the Green Line and swallows vast arable and fertile Palestinian lands, isolating residential areas, forcing the indigenous residents to take refuge once more, and creating several hazardous economic and social consequences. The wall's length in the West Bank is 360 kilometers, and the width ranges between 80 and 100 meters. It penetrates some kilometers into Palestinian territory, for instance, ten kilometers into Salfit City. Some of the Palestinians houses are left between the saparation wall and the illegal settlements. The wall has racist features because it is designed to separate two peoples, who had lived in peace some time in the distant past. Now, there are barbed wires to obstruct access. Between East and West Jerusalem, there is also a separation wall, ostensibly 11 kilometers but actually 57 km. because it also snakes into Palestinian (and Jewish) areas. Here too, it swallows vast Palestinian lands, forcing Arab Jerusalemites to get out of or enter Jerusalem through special Israeli gates. The total surface area lost to the Palestinians, on account of the separation wall, adds up to 164.783 dunums (about ¼ acre) of Palestinian agricultural land. Some of the U.S. financial support of $9 billion will probably be used for the wall and Jewish settlements, none of which can help bring peace and security to the area.
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