THE European Union has expressed deep concern over Israel’s construction of a new part of its controversial separation barrier in the occupied West Bank. In a statement on Friday, the EU referred to the relaunch of works for the construction of the barrier in the Cremisan Valley situated near the Palestinian town of Beit Jala.
Residents of Beit Jala have been campaigning against the wall that will severely restrict access of almost 60 Palestinian families to their agricultural land. It may also lead to the expansion of the nearby Israeli settlements of Gilo and Har Gilo. But after a nine-year legal battle, Israel’s high court ruled in July 2015 that the wall was legitimate.
Legitimate?
The International Court of Justice at The Hague had ruled in 2004 that construction of the wall was “contrary to international law” and Israel must dismantle it and make reparation. The court labeled it illegal due to the overwhelming economic and social problems it caused to Palestinians.
More important, ICJ considered the wall disproportionate in regards to Israel’s security needs, and a form of collective punishment against the whole Palestinian population. Many others have challenged the Israeli claim that the wall would prevent the entry of suicide bombers into Israel. If the security was the real concern, they argue, the wall would have been built along the 1949 Armistice “Green Line”.
The barrier known as the Apartheid Wall or “Berlin Wall” bites deep into the West Bank, dividing and isolating communities and stealing their lands and water. Berlin Wall was 96 miles long (155 kms). Israel’s barrier, still under construction, is expected to reach at least 403 miles in length (650 kms).
Whatever Israel and its friends may say, everyone knows the real purpose of the wall: Annexing plum Palestinian land and water sources. So it is a crude attempt to change the “facts on the ground” or create new ones.
Simultaneously, Israel is also building new settlements in the occupied territories. Peace Now, an Israeli NGO, said Thursday the Netanyahu regime has authorized construction of more than 200 settler units in the West Bank. According to the rights group, the number of settlements Israel plans to build in the West Bank more than tripled in the first quarter of 2016 compared to the same period last year. Plans for building 674 units were submitted in the period between January and March this year, compared to 194 units in the first third of 2015. More than half a million Israelis live in over 230 illegal settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Later this month, Palestinians plan to submit a resolution to the UN Security Council to condemn Israel’s settlement activity.
Apart from their illegality in international law — Article 49 of the Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (Fourth Geneva Convention) — settlements and outposts have proved to be major stumbling blocks to peace efforts. These settlements are built on land that Palestinians see as part of a future state.
Two independent states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security is the cornerstone of a Middle East settlement accepted by the international community. Palestinians will never accept a truncated, nonviable state under Israel’s complete control. They have already made huge and painful compromises. An explosive situation is developing in occupied territories because of Israel's expropriation of Palestinian lands and the strict control Israel exercises over their lives.
A Palestinian armed with an ax attacked an Israeli soldier in the occupied West Bank and was shot dead on Thursday, marking the end of a three-week lull in deadly incidents. The incident was the latest in a seven-month wave of violence. The international community should take all this as a warning signal.
