UN: Separation Fence Will Sever Jerusalem From West Bank

Taken from Haaretz, Israel, 09/07/2007
By Cnaan Liphshiz, of Haaretz and Reuters

The United Nations issued a report Monday saying the security fence Israel is building will effectively separate mainly Arab-populated East Jerusalem from the West Bank.

"This will restrict access to workplaces, health, education [services] and to places of worship", the report said.

The Defense Ministry, in charge of the project, made no immediate comment on the report.


Palestinian teenagers playing near a concrete section of the security fence near Bethlehem two weeks ago. (AP)

The report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Israel has completed more than half of a planned 720 km fence started in 2003.

In 2004, the World Court ruled construction of the fence was illegal. Israel has ignored the ruling, the report said.

Another fence under construction around a settlement bloc near the West Bank town of Bethlehem will isolate a Palestinian cultural area there and "sever Bethlehem from Jerusalem," the nine-page document said.

Israel captured East Jerusalem in the 1967 Six Day War. Palestinians want to make East Jerusalem the capital of a state they aspire to establish in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, Dutch foreign minister Maxime Verhagen recently warned a construction company from the Rotterdam area to terminate its involvement in work on the separation fence in the West Bank.

"I expect Riwal to stop providing cranes for the wall. I hope this will be the last we hear of it," Verhagen said in a media statement late last month, adding that "the government will keep a close watch" on the company's actions.

The UN report said other sections of the fence would effectively trap some 50,000 of the 2.5 million Palestinians living in the West Bank in a zone between the territory and Israel.

"These Palestinians would be unable to access critical services such as schools, clinics and shops in either Israel or the West Bank without special permits," the report said.

It said Israel had tightened procedures to obtain such "visitor" permits, so far granted to only 40 percent of the Palestinian farmers who need them to cultivate land they own on the Israeli side of the fence.

"Israel has opened gates in the fence to facilitate some movement, but half were open for a shorter time than scheduled, and subsequently 10 towns in the northern West Bank lacked round-the-clock access to emergency services," the report said.

About 80 percent of Israel's fence is to be built on West Bank land, while the remaining 20 percent will lie in Israel, according to the report.

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The joke of the day came from Russian-Israeli millionaire Arcadi Gaydamak, He rightfully said that the Muslims live in Jerusalem with no hope “We will establish a party because of my image, and thanks to my activities,”. Gaydamak explained that he would run for mayor of the capital city because he could see that Muslims and Jews had not lived peacefully side by side for a long time. “The Muslims live in this city with no hope and we have to make that better,” he said.

Err, it it because East Jerusalem is occupied and oppressive towards the Palestinians, and that Settlers are taking over the homes of Palestinians and forcing them off the city? Worse still, he came up with mad comments: “We will support (Benjamin) Netanyahu for prime minister,”. “I think that once we enter the Knesset, we’ll have to consider who is responsible enough to lead the country, and the answer to that is Netanyahu.” If Netanyahu gets in, it will be a backward step for peace in the Middle East. netanyahu should take up politics in the US, that where he belongs.