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The Israeli West Bank barrier (commonly referred to as "the ''' Fence '''" by its supporters and "the ''' Wall '''" by its opponents) is a physical Barrier being constructed by Israel consisting of a network of fences with vehicle-barrier trenches (95%) and walls (5%). The barrier is a very controversial project, with little common ground between supporters and opponents. Supporters regard it as a necessary tool protecting Israeli civilians from terrorist attacks in Israel that increased significantly during the Al-Aqsa Intifada in September 2000 {Link without Title} {Link without Title} and regard it as a major causal factor in reducing incidents of terrorism by 90% from 2002 to 2005. Opponents argue that it violates international humanitarian and human rights law, and regard it as an attempt to annex land occupied by illegal settlements, and to pre-empt final status negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. Opposition to the barrier is focused on the route of the barrier and its impact on the Palestinians who live nearby, particularly on their ability to travel freely within the West Bank and to get access to work in Israel. A similar barrier, the Israeli Gaza Strip Barrier , was constructed parallel to the Gaza Strip portion of the 1949 armistice line in 1994. This barrier did not stray significantly from the armistice line, and it has not been as controversial as the West Bank barrier has been. OVERVIEW Names of the barrier The name of the barrier is itself a political issue to some people. Israel most commonly refers to the barrier as the "separation fence" ( or ''geder ha'hafrada'') in Hebrew and "security fence" or "anti-terrorist fence" in English , with "seam zone" referring to the land between the fence and the 1949 armistice lines. Palestinians most commonly refer to the barrier in Arabic as , (racial segregation wall), and some opponents of the barrier refer to it in English as an ''" Apartheid Wall "''. The United Nations and the international community use various names including separation/security and fence/wall/barrier. History and stated purpose Since its inception, Israel has erected physical barriers as a means of protection against Fedayeen and Guerrilla attacks. The idea of creating a physical barrier between the Israeli and Palestinian populations was first proposed by Yitzhak Rabin in 1992, following the murder of an Israeli teenage girl in Jerusalem. Rabin said that Israel must "take Gaza out of Tel Aviv ", in order to minimize friction between the peoples. Following an outbreak of violent incidents in Gaza in October 1994, Rabin announced his stance that "we have to decide on separation as a philosophy. There has to be a clear border. Without demarcating the lines, whoever wants to swallow 1.8 million Arabs will just bring greater support for Hamas ." [1, p52] To this end, the government of Yitzhak Rabin built the Israeli Gaza Strip Barrier in 1994. Following an attack on Bet Lid , near the city of Netanya , Rabin made his goals more specific: :This path must lead to a separation, though not according to the borders prior to 1967. We want to reach a separation between us and them. We do not want a majority of the Jewish residents of the state of Israel, 98% of whom live within the borders of sovereign Israel, including a united Jerusalem, to be subject to terrorism. In early 1995, the Shahal commission was established by Yitzhak Rabin to discuss how to implement a barrier separating Israelis and Palestinians. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak , prior to the Camp David 2000 Summit with Yasser Arafat , vowed to build a separation barrier, stating that it is "essential to the Palestinian nation in order to foster its national identity and independence without being dependent on the State of Israel". [1, p54] Israeli Supreme Court made reference to the conditions and history that led to the building of the barrier. In the September 2005 decision {Link without Title} , it described the history of violence against Israeli citizens since the breakout of Al-Aqsa Intifada and the loss of life that ensued on the Israeli side. The court ruling also cited the attempts Israel had made to defend its citizens, including "military operations" carried out against "terrorist acts", and stated that these actions...
Grassroots effort In June 2001 a Grass Roots Organization called " Fence For Life - The Public Movement for The Security Fence" {Link without Title} began the grassroots effort for the construction of a continuous security fence. The movement was founded by people from all over Israel following the Dolphinarium Terror Attack . The goal of the Movement, is to encourage the government to construct a Security Fence along Israel's borders. "Fence for Life" urged the government to build a continuous Fence as speedily as possible, and without any connection to the political future of the areas it separates, with a goal of hermetically sealing off the Palestinian territories from Israeli population center to prevent the terrorist acts by Palestinians against the people living in Israel. From the very beginning of its public campaign , " Fence For Life " emphasized that any Security Fence has no connection whatsoever to the political future of the settlements. The Movement for the Security Fence for Israel included protests, demonstrations, conferences with public figures, media blitzes, lobbying in the Knesset as well as legal battles in the High Court of Justice, both with demands to quickly build the Security Fence as well as appeals not to cause further delay in construction. The Movement does not support any specific path for the Barrier, as this is subject to a government decision. "Fence for Life" was of the opinion that “politicization” of the Fence by various groups was delaying the completion of the Security Barrier and is likely to block its construction. At the end of 2002, due to government inaction several localities who suffered the most from lack of a border barrier have started to build the barrier using their own funds directly on the green-line. {Link without Title} Government action Although at the beginning the Israeli government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was hesitant to construct the barrier, it finally embraced the plan. The stated purpose of the barrier is to prevent Terrorists from entering Israeli cities, a problem which has plagued Israel since the start of the Second Intifada . A secondary purpose of the barrier is to prevent illegal infiltrations by Palestinians, mainly illegal immigrants and car thieves. The Israeli government says that the high concrete portions are to protect cars and people on the Israeli side from gunfire. Many Israelis note the danger of terrorist incursions from the area, such as waves of Suicide Bombings in early 2002. (''see Netanya Suicide Attack ''). Route and Route Timeline The barrier generally runs along or near the does not permit putting the barrier along the Green Line in some places, because hills or tall buildings on the Palestinian side would make the barrier ineffective against terrorism. {Link without Title} . The International Court of Justice has countered that in such cases it is only legal to build the barrier inside Israel. As of November 2003, the barrier extends inside most of the northwestern and western edges of the West Bank, sometimes close to the Green Line, and sometimes running further east. In some places there are also secondary barriers, creating a number of completely enclosed Enclave s. It is not known whether a decision has been made to build a barrier on the eastern side of the main regions of Palestinian Arab population. Depending mostly on this decision, somewhere between 6% and 45% of the West Bank will eventually be outside the barrier. In October 2003, the region between the barrier and the Green Line was declared a special military area. Although all Israelis and all Jews regardless of nationality can enter the region freely, Palestinians can enter only with special permits even if they are residents of one of the dozen or so Arab villages in the region. Many who tried to obtain permits were refused them. In February 2004, Israel said it would review the route of the barrier in response to U.S. and Palestinian concerns. In particular, Israeli cabinet members said modifications would be made to reduce the number of checkpoints Palestinians had to cross, and especially to reduce Palestinian hardship in areas such as Qalqilya where the barrier goes very near, and in some cases nearly encircles, populated areas. On June 30 , 2004 , the Supreme Court Of Israel ruled that a portion of the barrier near Jerusalem violates the rights of Palestinians, and ordered 30 km of existing and planned barrier to be rerouted. However, it did rule that the barrier is legal in essence and accepted the Israeli government's claim that it is a security measure. On July 9 , 2004 , the International Court Of Justice issued an advisory opinion that it is a violation of international law. At the beginning of September 2004, Israel started the southern part of the barrier. On {Link without Title} . However, there is no indication in government plans or work on the ground that support such allegations. As of January 2006, approximately 31% has been constructed; another 16.5 % is under construction; 43% has been approved and the remaining 9.5% requires final approval. A report published by Human rights group which is a subject of new petition filled with Israeli supreme court. As a result of past rullings by the court (especially Israeli West Bank Barrier#Israeli Supreme Court Decision Of 2005 ) the government announce a plan to shorten a 9.5 K"m section of the route to 1350 meters in a way that it would prevent much of the damage to Palestinian agriculture in the area around Kalkilia. Over 800 Dunams (800,000 m&2) that were on the israeli side of the fence will be returned to the Palestinians side. See also The 1949 Cease-fire Line Vs. The Permanent Border . Structure Most of the barrier (over 95% of total length) consists of a wire fence with an exclusion area on each side, often including an anti-vehicle trench, and averaging approximately 60 m in width. Some sections (less than 5% of total length) are constructed as a concrete wall which are up to 8 m in height and 3 m in width. Occasionally, due to topographic conditions other sections of the barrier will reach up to 100 m in width. {Link without Title} Wall construction (5%) is more common in urban settings, such as areas near Qalqiliya and Jerusalem , because it is narrower, requires less land, and provides more protection against snipers. In all cases there are regular observation posts, automated sensing devices and other apparatus. There are gates at various places which are controlled by Israeli soldiers. The total length as officially authorized by the end of 2003 will be 650 km (403 miles). EFFECTS AND CONSEQUENCES Effects on Israeli Security Israeli statistics indicate that the barrier has drastically reduced the number of Palestinian infiltrations and suicide bombings and other attacks on civilians in Israel and in Israeli settlements, and Israeli officials assert that completion of the barrier will make it even more effective in stopping these attacks since "An absolute halt in terrorist activities has been noticed in the West Bank areas where the fence has been constructed". [http://www.nclci.org/news/terrorism_news.htm Israeli officers, including the head of the Shin Bet , quoted in the newspaper '' Maariv '', have claimed that in the areas where the barrier was complete, the number of hostile infiltrations has decreased to almost zero. Maariv also stated that Palestinian militants, including a senior member of Islamic Jihad , had confirmed that the barrier made it much harder to conduct attacks inside Israel. Since the completion of the fence in the area of Tulkarem and Qalqiliya in June 2003, there have been no successful attacks from those areas, all attacks have been intercepted or the Suicide Bomber s have detonated prematurely. [1, p56] During the twelve month period from August 2003 to July 2004 three suicide bombers launched attacks from areas where the fence has been completed which resulted in no deaths or injuries. In contrast during the preceding twelve months, from September 2002 to August 2003, 73 attacks were successfully carried out from these areas, in which 293 Israelis were killed and 1,950 were wounded. The decrease in casualties was not due to a decrease in attempted terrorist attacks; from August 2003 to July 2004 Israeli security forces prevented dozens of planned attacks in the final stages of their implementation and uncovered 24 explosive belts and charges intended to be used for these attacks. From July 2004 to October 2004 only one suicide bombing has resulted in casualties in areas where the barrier has been built. {Link without Title} While there is general agreement that effects to date have coincided with improved Israeli security, the future effects on Israeli security are not known. The cease-fire agreement of December 2005 has naturally led to a decrease in Palestinian militant attacks and has offered less opportunities for Israel to test the barrier's efficacy. The Palestinian speculates that the long-term effects of a security barrier around the West Bank will be similar to the long-term security effects of the security barrier around Gaza. In an interview on the PBS program '' The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer '', he says that "we have experience in other borders... since 1996 if I'm not mistaken, no suicide bombers went out of the Gaza because we have fenced it." {Link without Title} Effects on Demography and Asset Values According to a 2005 report published by the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies, the barrier being built around Jerusalem may have unintended effects on the city. According to the study, many Jerusalem Palestinians who were living in areas outside the barrier are now moving back into the city, creating housing shortages, increased real estate prices, and sprawling of Palestinians into traditionally Jewish neighborhoods of the city. {Link without Title} Effects on Palestinians |
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