Israel-Palestinian conflict: building barriers

[webfact]

Israel-Palestinian conflict: building barriers



JERUSALEM: -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has suspended construction of a 10-metre long concrete barrier, on a street that borders the East Jerusalem Palestinian neighbourhood of Jabel Mukabar and an adjacent Jewish neighbourhood.

The construction of barriers by Israel is nothing new. It has already done so, notably in 2002 – to isolate the West Bank.

The construction of the West Bank barrier began under the command of Ariel Sharon, who was prime minister at the time.

The year of 2002 was marked by suicide bombings. Palestinian militants targeted buses and, over six months, more than 200 Israelis were killed.

All of this was happening during the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising.

Sharon’s visit to Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque compound in September 2000 was one of the sparks which ignited the violence.

Just over four months later, Sharon was elected as Israeli prime minister.

Over a decade, Israel continued the construction of a barrier along a planned route, around 730 kilometres long – meandering throughout the West Bank and around Jerusalem.

Eighty percent of the barrier is constructed inside the West Bank, in Palestinian territory.

There are still sections yet to be constructed. The structure’s projected path will encircle 50 Jewish settlements – to connect them with Israel.

Half a million Palestinians are affected by the barrier, restricting how they move around.

To gain access to agricultural land, farmers must first get permission from the army. As is the case in the village of Azzun, near the town of Qalqilya.

“They do not allow me to go to bring water and irrigate my field that is a few metres away from here. We must first call. Before, the situation was normal, we could bring water when we wanted. Now we are restricted.”

The barrier remains in place today. This, despite a UN General Assembly resolution in 2003 against construction and a judgement at the The Hague, which declared some sections in the West Bank illegal.


-- (c) Copyright Euronews 2015-10-20

[DaddyWarbucks]

Those faux stone walls remind me of neighborhoods in Brooklyn.

South Williamsburg comes to mind...

[TimmyT]

and again foreigners, UN, manipulated by the US, are those who are trying to prevent the separation of Palestine and Israel.

it is the UN who considers Palestine as a separate state so why neighboring states can't block their borders from trespassing?

because Palestine gun at Israel's temple is what US left-liberal mafia needs to control Israel, Jewish community inside the US and all over the world.

Edited October 20, 2015 by TimmyT

[DaddyWarbucks]

and again foreigners, UN, manipulated by the US, are those who are trying to prevent the separation of Palestine and Israel.

it is the UN who considers Palestine as a separate state so why neighboring states can't block their borders from trespassing?

because Palestine gun at Israel's temple is what US left-liberal mafia needs to control Israel, Jewish community inside the US and all over the world.

That's a farrago of nonsense, Timmy.

You've let the side down again.

[FangFerang]

"Sharon’s visit to Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque compound in September 2000 was one of the sparks which ignited the violence."

No. That was the sole spark that set it off. Armed Israeli soldiers showed up at a mosque, armed and in riot gear, as a "show of force". Easily baited, the Palestinians went off.

Now the Israelis did it...again.

[Morch]

The OP is misses the point.

Instead of expanding on the current situation, the implications and motivations concerned with the story, it goes on about a related, but not quite the same issue.

JERUSALEM: -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has suspended construction of a 10-metre long concrete barrier, on a street that borders the East Jerusalem Palestinian neighbourhood of Jabel Mukabar and an adjacent Jewish neighbourhood.

The barrier referred to is not really a construction project, so much as a large portable concrete barrier, Nothing on par with the Israeli Security Barrier around the West Bank. It was a temporary measure suggested by police, not by politicians. As a short term measure, it is actually not a bad idea, less friction in a know hot spot at this time might help.

The slogan of a unified Jerusalem still carries considerable weight in the Israeli political scene and public opinion. Not limited to right-wing politicians and voters, but more so. Ignoring realities on the ground, it is still a powerful enough idea to give politicians pause. So once Netanyahu's coalition partners got drift of the intended action, it was sure to become a competition as to whom cares-more-about-a-unified-Jerusalem. That the city is de-facto divided, or that suspending this action might result in casualties were deemed secondary to keeping up the illusion and not being seen as soft on the unified Jerusalem ticket

This story can be approached from a few angles - the conflicting perceptions of divided vs. unified Jerusalem, politics effect on decision making, actual effects of this temporary measure and how locals (on both sides) react to it. Instead, the OP goes meandering on something not immediately related, and not especially illuminating as far as the current situation and the original story goes.

[Morch]

"Sharon’s visit to Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque compound in September 2000 was one of the sparks which ignited the violence."

No. That was the sole spark that set it off. Armed Israeli soldiers showed up at a mosque, armed and in riot gear, as a "show of force". Easily baited, the Palestinians went off.

Now the Israelis did it...again.

This is hardly the crux of the story, even as presented.

Either way, bold it to your heart's desire would not change the fact that not even most Palestinian officials make the claim above.

Did it again, how? There were riots prior to the Israeli Minister of Agriculture visit to the Temple Mount, provocative as it was.

The view of the Palestinians as "easily baited" doesn't seem very appreciative....

[Jingthing]

About those "barriers" --

Not an uprising against occupation. An uprising against Israel

Op-ed: In bloody, unmistakable capital letters, the perpetrators of this new round of evil mayhem proclaim to Israelis: We don’t want to live alongside you. We want to kill you

...
They say that Israel is putting up walls and dividing Jerusalem again. But the placing of six slabs of concrete in Armon Hanatziv — planned before the current wave of stabbings, to block petrol bombs and stones in a particularly hard-hit area — does not constitute the redivision of the city.

Still, the roadblocks at the entrances to Arab neighborhoods underline that Jerusalem has never truly been united since 1967; its Arab neighborhoods were never integrated. The folly of expanding the city’s borders to include Arab areas without seeking to govern them equitably has never been more clearly exposed than it is today, when Israel must protect its citizens from residents it chose to include in its capital city. This was fertile ground for the haters to exploit.

http://www.timesofisrael.com/not-an-uprising-against-occupation-an-uprising-against-israel/

Edited October 20, 2015 by Jingthing