PALESTINA OGGI

Recenti immagini dalla Palestina che documentano la costruzione del muro della vergogna; le foto sono state inviate dalla nostra compagna Juliet di Betlemme

The Segregation Wall

Israel's Segregation Wall is currently under construction in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. When completed the Wall will stretch approximately 683 km and appropriate more than half of the Occupied Palestinian Territory area. Only 138 km of the Wall run along the Armistice Line, the internationally recognized border between Israel and the West Bank.

Many Palestinian homes and agricultural lands have been destroyed to construct the Wall. Many Palestinian communities have seen the wall cut between them and their village lands. Other communities have been totally isolated and cut-off from neighboring towns and villages and the interior of the West Bank. Most disheartening, however, is the way that the Segregation Wall cuts through Palestinian communities, leaving families stranded on opposite sides.

The International Court of Justice ruled on July 9, 2004, that Israel's Wall was illegal under international law. The court held that the wall should be immediately halted and dismantled and also that "Israel has the obligation to make reparation for the damage caused" to Palestinians. The ICJ called on all states to conform within their obligations under international law by not recognizing the "illegal situation arising from the construction of the wall." Israel, however, has ignored the ruling and the United States government has sought to make the courts recommendations as ineffective as possible. On July 15, 2004, 361 Members of the US Congress endorsed a resolution that deplored the ICJ ruling and supported Israel's violation of international law.

Israel's strategy in building the Segregation Wall is to extend Israeli territorial authority over larger portions of the Palestinian territories. It follows ridge-lines and is punctuated by large cement sniper towers. The Wall snakes across the territory grabbing open spaces and Israeli settlements while encircling Palestinian built-up areas, forming tiny ethnic Palestinian ghettos. It is not the first violation Israel has committed within the international law and probably not its last as long as the world continues to tolerate its flout. The streak of violations against the Palestinian populace living under Israeli occupation is nothing new, but it certainly got to a decisive point where Palestinians are threatened to utterly loss their land after a struggling 56 years. Israel, have virtually violated every article of the United Nation charter under security claims and denying in the process the Palestinians right of existence. This climax act of Israel might very well be its breaker if they continue to pursue this nightmare to imprison millions of Palestinians and control their lives under falsified security proclaims. Its time that Israel realize that peace will not prevail unless they stand-down and be off the West Bank… and stand-down they shall.