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FERT Bruno
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• Living with a wall. |
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In June 2002, the Israeli government began the construction of a Wall in the occupied Palestinian Territories in order to protect its citizens, both those living within the Israeli borders and more than 200,000 settlers living inside the West Bank, from attacks by Palestinians, particularly suicide bombers.
185 km of the Wall have already been constructed; it consists of 8-9 meter-high concrete slabs, fences, ditches, razor-wire, electronic monitoring systems, patrol roads and a 'no-go' buffer zone. The total length of the Wall is estimated to be 622km when completed while the total cost is approximately US$ 4.7 million per kilometer. 85% of the planned route of the Wall does not follow the 1967 Green Line and encroaches into the West Bank, looping around settlements in order to keep them contiguous with Israel.
Thus, 11,5% of the West Bank land area (63,120 hectares) will find itself between the Wall and the Green Line. 93,000 Palestinians will reside in these areas in a series of enclaves entirely surrounded by the Wall.
The outskirts of Jerusalem are one of the most problematic areas because of the many settlements that surround the city while the demarcations of the Wall follow a very complex road.
As a result, Palestinian districts are cut off from former neighbours, destroying social and economic life. By confining communities behind the Wall and creating enclaves, the Wall deprives Palestinians of adequate access to basic services such as education, healthcare or sources of income such as agriculture and other forms of employment.
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| Features Ref. |
| Place: palestine, Territoires Palestiniens |
| Date: 01/11/2004 |
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