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2/24/2007

the wall




In 1948, Israel declared a State after occupying 78% of Palestine and the mass expulsion of the Palestinian people. In 1967, Israel invaded the remaining 22% of the Palestinian land, and to this day it is still under occupation.Israel is now building what it calls a ‘security fence’ around the West Bank telling the world that it is needed to keep Palestinian ‘terrorists’ out of Israel. In reality, this is a land grabbing exercise as the wall is being built inside the West Bank.The land Israel is robbing is the most fertile in the West Bank. The wall has cut-off many farmers from their farms and school children from schools. Some farmers have now been completely expelled from their land and been told that the land is now Israel.Once the wall is completed, Palestinians will lose over 50% of the West Bank, leaving the 3.5 million Palestinians living in prison conditions without their land, little food and water, and with no hope.







Facts About the Wall


The separation wall is made of reinforced cement, barbed wire, electrical fences, trenches, electronic motion sensors, guard towers for armed guards and security roads.The wall is costing $1 million per kilometre and is expected to be over 700 kilometres long when completed. Most of the finance for it is coming from the United States government.At least 95,000 Palestinians (4.5% of the West Bank population) will be isolated between the wall and Israel and these people will have no rights to travel or get services from Israel. In addition 200,000 people in East Jerusalem will be totally isolated from the rest of the West Bank.At least 10% of the West Bank is being or will be confiscated by and for Israel because of the route of the Wall. The path of the Wall has been strategically modified at various times to allow the annexation of settlements and the most fertile lands of 50 Palestinian villages.Thousands of acres of land have been razed for the Wall, including the uprooting of over 100,000 trees.The Israeli public support the wall because their government has said that it is for their security and that it will keep Palestinian bombers out of Israel. The reality is that the wall will create more instability in the region as thousands of Palestinians have or will lose jobs, homes and livelihoods. With no hope, they will follow the path of the dozens of other desperate self bombers.The Israeli public believes the wall is being built on the green line border between Israel and the West Bank. This is a complete lie and to keep the truth from emerging, Israel has not produced any maps of the wall at all during it’s first construction phase.


If the Israeli government was concerned about security, it would build the wall across the green line which is a length of 350 kilometres, not within the West Bank to the length of 700 kilometres.Upon laying the groundwork for the Wall, Israeli bulldozers have destroyed over 35,000 meters of water pipes used by Palestinians.Approximately 20,000 individuals in the north are located on one side of the Wall but with their agricultural lands on the other side, loosing their livelihoods, sustenance, and heritage.The land confiscation, destruction, and severe restriction of movement will mean the loss of 6,500 Palestinian jobs.To date over 100 buildings have been demolished, the majority of which were stores and an important source of income and survival for a number of communities.Medical access will be significantly impaired as access by Palestinian villagers to hospitals will become extremely difficult.Education will be denied to many as the Wall lies between the homes of many teachers and the schools in which they teach. The Wall is also a barrier to many students reaching their schools





Qalqiliya – an example

This town has been completely encircled by the wall and the only entrance is guarded by two checkpoints, effectively strangling a once flourishing town. Israel Occupation Forces open and close checkpoints at will, and therefore the people of Qalqiliya will be trapped in the town with no access to the outside world for their daily needs and medical supplies.Jayous, in the Qalqiliya District, has already had 72% of its land (8,600 acres) and seven groundwater wells confiscated. At least 300 families are loosing their only source of income. They only receive water for two hours every three days.

source : http://www.freewebs.com/freepalestine/

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