- "If built in its entirety, the first, three-phase
Wall alone will constitute the largest confiscation of Palestinian land
since 1967, devastate the agricultural base of the West Bank, and destroy
any possibility of a viable Palestinian state."
-
- Uncertainty about the future intensified for Mufida Ahmad's
family this year when a mammoth wall ripped through their land in the West
Bank village of Jayyus. Ahmad and her husband had bought the quarter acre
for $1,400 - a hefty but hopeful investment for the family of seven. On
it, they cultivated eight olive trees. To pay for the land, and pay off
a $4,000 bank loan they had taken to meet the family's basic needs, Ahmad
worked nine hours a day in a sewing factory for a mere $150 a month. But
the trees, land, and future for which they had sacrificed have all disappeared
under the Israeli Separation Wall.
-
- The Wallócalled a "security fence" by
the Israeli government and the "Apartheid Wall" by Palestinians
- is actually a series of walls, razor wire, electrified fences, trenches,
and watchtowers flanked by a 30- to 75-yard "buffer zone" which
the Israeli military patrols. The first phase of construction was launched
in June 2002 and finished just 13 months later, in July of this year. The
completed section stretches for 90 miles in the northwestern West Bank
districts of Jenin, Tulkarem, and Qalqiliya. At several points it cuts
almost four miles into the West Bank (which spans only 35 miles at its
widest section). The Wall has already resulted in Israel's de facto annexation
of fertile Palestinian agricultural land, groundwater wells, and 10 illegal
Israeli Jewish-only settlements. Although the first phase of construction
was declared complete, demolitions and razing continue around it. The Israeli
government has announced three more building phases and it plans to finish
the structure by 2005.
-
- In March, the Jewish settlers' council (YESHA) - fearing
that many settlements would be trapped on the Palestinian side - convinced
the Israeli government to change the Wall's trajectory so that in future
phases it will cut 10 miles into the West Bank, incorporating major settlement
blocs like Ariel and Immanuel. The route zigzags to annex the maximum amount
of land possible for the Israeli settlements while leaving major Palestinian
population centers outside Israel's borders.
-
- Also in March, Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon announced
plans to erect a second wall along the Jordan River Valley - far inside
the eastern border of the West Bank - to annex a string of Israeli settlements
on prime Palestinian agricultural land.
-
- If built in its entirety, the first, three-phase Wall
alone will constitute the largest confiscation of Palestinian land since
1967, devastate the agricultural base of the West Bank, and destroy any
possibility of a viable Palestinian state. If both walls are built, they
will enclose the entire West Bank and run over 400 miles, four times the
length of the Berlin Wall. Not only will they take some of the most fertile
land and richest water resources in the West Bank, they will partition
the territory into three ghettos: one located around the cities of Nablus
and Jenin in the north, a second in Ramallah in the north-center, and a
third in Bethlehem/Hebron in the south. (These three urban areas are further
subdivided into numerous enclaves by Israeli settlements, bypass roads,
and military checkpoints.) In total, less than half of the West Bank will
remain in Palestinian hands - just 12% of pre-1948 Palestine. The Wall
will completely separate East Jerusalem, which was illegally annexed by
Israel in 1980, from the rest of the West Bank. East Jerusalem is not only
the intended capital of a future Palestinian state, but also the religious,
cultural, social, and economic center of the West Bank. A total of 430,000
West Bank Palestinians, including those in East Jerusalem, will be trapped
on the Israeli side of the Wall.
-
- Even before the Wall's construction began, the Palestinian
economy lay decimated from the three-year long Israeli military crackdown
against the intifada, particularly the enforced curfews, military destruction,
and closures. (Closures place movement restrictions on Palestinian people,
vehicles, and goods. Under closure, hundreds of military checkpoints and
roadblocks make it almost impossible for Palestinians to enter Israel or
to move from one Palestinian population center in the West Bank and Gaza
to another). As of October 2002, closures had cost Palestinians $3.3 billion
in lost income and left 67% of Palestinian households living in poverty.
The Separation Wall will make permanent the state of siege experienced
by much of Palestine during the current intifada. The full economic impact
of the Wall is not yet known, but its first segment has already gutted
productive assets, blocked access to resources, and hobbled people's movement.
-
- The Wall's First Phase and Coming Expansion
-
- Twenty-two percent of the population of the West Bank
- half a million people - live in the three northern districts sliced through
by the Wall's first phase of construction. Approximately 206,000 live in
directly affected communities - ones that lost land to the Wall, had markets,
homes, and agricultural buildings demolished, or find themselves cut off
from the rest of the West Bank. Some 11,550 residents in 16 villages are
now trapped between the Wall and the Green Line, in an area considered
a "closed military zone." They are completely isolated from the
rest of the West Bank and these residents fear that they will ultimately
be evicted from the area by the military or forced out by economic strangulation.
-
- Another 18 communities are completely imprisoned by the
Wall. For example, Qalqiliya, a city of 42,000, is surrounded on all sides,
and its single entrance and exit is opened and closed at the whim of the
Israeli military. Why should the Wall maroon this city? Qalqiliya has the
misfortune to be positioned between two Israeli settlements - Zufin lies
to its north and Alfe Menashe to the south. Prior to the beginning of the
intifada in September 2000, the 18 communities together had an average
unemployment rate of 18%. This figure has swelled to 78% since Israeli
closures and the Wall sealed them in.
-
- Devastating Losses
-
- 'Abbas Khaled 'Ali Yusef, a shop owner in the Nazlat
Isa market, has seen his shop demolished three times. It mysteriously burned
to the ground in November 2001 after an Israeli military checkpoint was
erected next door. He rebuilt the shop but it was destroyed a few months
later by the military. After he opened a shop in a different location,
it was demolished in August 2003, along with over 100 others, to clear
the way for the Wall. Abbas hopes to start a fourth business in Tulkarem,
where he thinks he and his brothers can continue to support their families.
-
- Thousands like 'Abbas Khaled 'Ali Yusef and Mufida Ahmad
have lost their family property with no compensation or recourse. 'Ali
Yusef's town of Nazlat Isa - once a thriving market on the Green Line that
catered primarily to Palestinian citizens of Israel - saw over 200 shops
and five homes demolished by the Wall's construction in the past year and
a half. In addition, over 100,000 trees have been uprooted in 47 communities
and approximately 3,700 acres of cropland destroyed for the footprint of
the Wall. And these direct losses of assets are just one type of economic
destruction wrought by the construction of the first phase of the Wall
and its buffer zone.
-
- In addition, the Wall makes large tracts of land inaccessible
to their owners. Its first phase isolated 51 communities from their lands,
which total 25,000 acres. While this land has not been officially confiscated,
many fear that it soon will be - according to Israeli law, land that goes
uncultivated for three years becomes government property. While Israel
has built 20 gates in the Tulkarem and Qalqiliya districts, ostensibly
to help farmers reach their fields, most are permanently closed, and at
the few that open sporadically there have been reports of Palestinians
shot, beaten, humiliated, and prevented from crossing. Even farmers who
still have access to their land face serious questions about whether and
how much to plant, since impeded access to markets means they may see little
or no return on their investments.
-
- Likewise, the Wall blocks access to water. The first
phase of construction has trapped 50 wells in the buffer zone and west
of the Wall. These wells supply 8,770,000 cubic yards of water annually
and are essential to the irrigation of cropland in the area. In Qalqiliya,
34 of the district's 75 wells are now inaccessible to residents, and over
200 cisterns and tens of reservoirs are isolated behind the Wall. Certain
areas west of the Wall, like Baqa ash Sharqiya, have long served as sources
of water for surrounding villages. Tankers would drive well water to neighboring
communities that have no water source. Now that the Wall separates Baqa
ash Sharqiya from these villages, it is virtually impossible for the tankers
to get through. Not only does the loss of water assets result in reduced
water access for households and a decline in agriculture, but since these
wells are privately owned, it also means lost income for the well owners.
-
- Finally, the Wall hinders mobility, and therefore, economic
activity. Because some communities are trapped between the Wall and the
Green Line, while others are almost completely sealed off by the Wall,
residents simply have limited access to the employment opportunities, markets,
and resources that they once enjoyed. In many communities the Wall makes
it impossible to travel for work.
-
- Agricultural Base at Risk
-
- With wage laborers unable to get to jobs in Israel, and
Palestinian businesses floundering, agriculture has become an increasingly
important source of income and sustenance for Palestinians. Yet this is
the sector most threatened by the Wall's construction.
-
- The northwestern districts of Jenin, Tulkarem, and Qalqiliya
sit atop the Western Aquifer, the major groundwater source of the West
Bank. This area - where the first segment of the Wall now stands - accounts
for about 42% of the West Bank's agricultural sector, contains 80% of the
West Bank's wells, and provides 53% of its water-sector employment. The
region serves as the bread (and water) basket for the rest of the West
Bank, and the presence of the Wall in this region may seriously reduce
food security.
-
- While the northwest region is the West Bank's most developed
agricultural area, projections show that several other areas have potential
for agricultural development. However, these areas - in the southwest West
Bank and the Jordan River Valley - are also slated to fall on the Israeli
side of the Wall. In sum, the Wall will destroy the current and potential
agricultural base of the Palestinian economy. In addition, industrial development
will be limited by lack of water and by the internal fragmentation of Palestinian
territory as well as the isolation of the Palestinian ghettos from Israel,
Jordan, and the wider world. Without access to employment in Israel, the
only option for many Palestinian workers will be to go to the industrial
zones and agricultural plantations of the Israeli settlements in the West
Bank, which have benefited from cheap Palestinian labor.
-
- Mobilizing Against the Wall
-
- The Wall is estimated to cost $1 billion if completed
in its entirety - around $2.5 million per mile. Part of this bill will
likely be underwritten by U.S. grants and loans to Israel, which is the
largest recipient of U.S. foreign aid. The Bush administration has mentioned
the possibility of imposing economic sanctions on the country if it builds
the Wall by subtracting $1 from U.S. loan guarantees for every dollar Israel
spends on construction. However, the administration itself is split and
the pro-Israel lobby has scoffed at the idea. Many in the region are skeptical
that Bush will act, given his record of almost unconditional support for
Israel's actions and the imminent U.S. elections.
-
- Meanwhile, Palestinian communities and local and international
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are mobilizing to stop the Wall. Affected
communities are organizing meetings, exhibitions, and demonstrations. In
some communities, such as Jayyus, local residents have erected "protest
tents" on land trapped behind the Wall, and are camping out day and
night. To support these communities in their struggle, the Palestinian
Environmental NGOs Network (PENGON) created the Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign
in 2002. Campaign coordinator Jamal Juma' explains the campaign name this
way: "We are witnessing a 21st century apartheid, which will lay siege
to Palestinians within fragmented, disconnected cantons, taking final possession
of the Palestinian right to live in freedom, in a state like any other
people."
-
- The campaign is a Palestinian national grassroots movement
that calls for the Wall's elimination, works to educate local and international
journalists, coordinates the resistance of Palestinian communities, and
lobbies the Palestinian Authority to take a strong, unequivocal stance
against the Wall. The campaign has declared November 9, 2003 the International
Day Against the Wall, and activist groups around the world are organizing
solidarity events.
-
- Only a small number of Israelis oppose the Wall; the
majority of the Israeli "peace camp" is not mobilizing against
it, although some are advocating that it be moved to the Green Line. This
position is unacceptable to Palestinians, who recognize that even building
the Wall along the Green Line, while perhaps minimizing the loss of land
and damage to property, would make Israel's crippling closure of the West
Bank and Gaza permanent and devastate the Palestinian economy. The 36-year
Israeli occupation has made the Palestinian economy completely dependent
upon Israel, which controls all imports, exports and labor flows. Even
right on the Green Line, the Wall would exacerbate that dependence and
vulnerability. Furthermore, the Wall would forcibly separate families and
communities that found themselves placed arbitrarily on opposite sides
of the Green Line after the 1948 War, but who continue to function as one
community.
-
- If a just peace is to prevail in the region, Israel must
agree to dismantle the Wall, return confiscated land to its owners, and
compensate Palestinians for damages and lost income. The U.S.-sponsored
Oslo Process and "road map" have demonstrated that no peace process
can succeed without guaranteeing basic human rights, providing economic
justice, and answering the questions of Palestinians like Abdel Nasser
Quzmar from 'Izbat Salman. Once a farmer with seven acres of land cultivated
in olives, citrus, and vegetables, and spotted with greenhouses, he has
lost almost everything since the Wall surrounded his community. "I
had never before come home empty handed. So, what shall I do now when everything
I have ever owned is either confiscated or destroyed?"
-
- - Lucy Mair is currently based in Jerusalem and works
as the Palestine Program Representative for Boston-based Grassroots International.
Robyn Long works with the Palestinian Environmental NGOs Network (PENGON)
and the Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign in Jerusalem. This article was first
published in Dollars and Sense, Issue 250, November/December 2003 and reprinted
with permission.
-
- ©2000-2003 electronicIntifada.net unless otherwise
noted.
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- http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article2205.shtml
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