“The Racist Wall”
In 2002 the Government of Israel approved the construction of a wall (a barrier) around the West Bank with the objectives of preventing violent attacks by Palestinians within the State of Israel.
The wall is intended to be 712-kilometre long. The construction of the wall began in 2002 at the height of the second intifada. The second intifada was a well planned provocative move by Ariel Sharon who together with armed-Israeli soldiers and policemen who walked into Al-Aqsa which is the third holiest site in Islam. The intifada is an expression of deep disappointment and frustration caused by the racist regime of Israel. Do you remember how a 12-year old, by the name of Mohamed –Al-Dura, was killed in front of TV cameras? And what was Mohamed Al Dura doing? He was hiding behind his father. The overall death toll is about 3000 Palestinians and around 1000 Israelis. The wall is another ploy (under the guise of fighting terrorism) to annex Palestinian territory.
The wall is built deep within the West Bank and not along the 1967 Green Line. The Green Line (or 1949 armistice border) is the demarcation line set out in the 1949 armistice agreements between the armies of Israel and the Arabs.
The wall or the barrier “blocks” access (some will use the word “impedes”but I can’t agree as in real terms it is “blocking’all sorts of rights) to services (including education & health) resources, gravely disrupts family and social life, crushed livelihoods and further compounds the systematic division of the occupied Palestinian territory.
Last Tuesday, 9th July 2019 marked the 15th anniversary since the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued an advisory opinion that declared Israel’s separation wall as illegal. The INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE stated that part of the wall which runs inside the West Bank, with the gate (gate of sin!) and licences of all kinds violates Israel’s obligations (Israel has no respect for international law and no respect for any resolution of the United Nations) under international law and should be dismantled. The wall is being “strengthened’’ day after day.
The ICJ also ruled that the State of Israel should pay reparations for any damage caused. Asking Israel to pay reparations is viewed by many as a joke. The United Nations general assembly voted overwhelmingly to demand Israel to comply with the UN’s highest legal body.
Nothing has been done. Isam Abedeen, an advocacy lawyer for Palestinian right groups AL HAQ told Al Jazeera from the occupied West Bank cuty of Ramallah.
“The issue is not with the ICJ ruling or international law or general assembly resolutions, but with the continuing culture of impunity that exempts Israel, an occupying power, from punishment”
Israel considers itself to be above international law.
85% of the wall is built within the Palestinian territory.
Israel has annexed, according to a Palestinian grassroots advocacy campaign, 46% of the West Bank. Gross violation of international law. And the effect if the wall has even been recognised by the World Bank which has estimated in 2013 that restrictions of movement have cost the Palestinian economy 3.4 billion dollars per year.
The wall:
- Will cost upon completion 2.1 billion dollars. Americans have supported the wall.
- Is twice the height of the Berlin Wall
- Is full with buffer zones which can stretch between 30 to 100 metres wide.
- Is an attack on the dignity of the Palestinians
This week Zwelivelile Mandela, the grandson of the great Nelson Mandela said Israeli apartheid is the worst form of apartheid ever witnessed. He made the comment last Saturday at the Palestine expo.
The grandson is an MP of the African National Congress. And in the same vein Israeli journalist Gideon Levy said: “here we face now a new stage in which criticising Israel becomes not only impossible but almost criminal. I have never seen such a phenomenon in which struggling for justice becomes criminalised. ‘This is unheard of”
There are many Jews in Israel & around the world who are anti-sionism.
Hope one day…
Hope there will be no Wall in the world.
“Another Brick in the Wall “
RAMA VALAYDEN
