Am I Not a Human? (8): The Separation Wall in the West Bank

Book excerpt: In 2002, the Israeli Occupation started the construction of the Separation Wall in the West Bank. This Wall aggravated the suffering of the Palestinians living in the West Bank, denying them many of their basic rights in addition to the freedom of movement. This book sheds light on the various dimensions of this suffering: on social, economic, educational and health levels. It starts with demonstrating the development of “The Wall” idea in the Israeli Occupation mentality, contending the Israeli argument of “security” purposes behind the construction, and illustrating the various political and settlement-expansion motives. It also considers the International law position from the wall, including the 2004 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on the illegality of the Wall. The book explores the stance of the Israeli Supreme Court towards the Wall and some of its rulings to modify its route. The book then moves to discussing the various humanitarian impacts of the wall on the lives of the Palestinian people. Among theses impacts: land expropriation,housedemolitions,restricting movement, denying accessibility to basic services like education, work and health; added to social issues of isolation and further fragmentation of the Palestinian Society. The book also studies the Wall in Jerusalem in a separate chapter. This Wall is a manifestation of Israel’s most important goals; Judaizing the city, confiscating its lands, surrounding it with settlements and walls, and pressuring the indigenous Jerusalemites into leaving the city. It dedicates another chapter to the case of Bil‘in village as a form of possible popular resistance against the Wall, explaining the innovative ideas to resist the Wall and how the Israelis were testing “non-lethal” weapons to disperse protesters there. One of Bil‘in’s most notable achievement is represented in the decision of the Israeli Supreme Court to amend the route of the Wall passing on its land. The book falls in 118 pages of medium size, and addresses the hearts and minds with the most accurate and documented information. This series is a rich interactive documentation of the Palestinian suffering under the Israeli occupation. It focuses on the Israeli violations of the Palestinians’ basic human rights.