The route of the Separation Barrier, 85% of which runs inside the West Bank, has laid the groundwork for the de-facto annexation of most settlements and much land for their future expansion. Roughly 75 percent of settlers live on or near the West Bank border with Israel. Israel-West-Bank barrier is a wall built by the State of Israel to separate Palestinian territories from Israel. The barrier was built in and around the West Bank in the wake of the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising, which began in 2000. Much like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the story of the security fence between Israel and the West Bank consists of two different narratives, each claiming to be the more accurate, writes Col. For many Israelis, the barrier is understood to protect their families and homes from terrorism. No doubt the next time Israeli and Palestinian leaders sit down to talk peace, the Israel/West Bank barrier wall will be a key part of the conversation. The Wall in the West Bank has a precedent: since 1994 the Gaza Strip has been surrounded by a barrier that cuts off Palestinians there from the rest of the world. "This was a state project," says Anderson. The Israeli West Bank Barrier, built in 2002, is often brought up when discussing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE... GEOG Module 7 OSU. Twelve years old this April, it costs Israel an annual average of $260 million for maintenance. Israelis generally call the barrier the “separation fence” (גדר ההפרדה), “separation wall” (חומת ההפרדה), or “security fence” (גדר הביטחון), all of which suggest a level of protection and distance from unwanted or dangerous elements. Or perhaps the story of the wall should start decades earlier, when Palestinian families began establishing homes in the lands west of the Jordan River. Patrol roads often run alongside, and high-end electronic sensors also monitor the area. Following a Palestinian violence outbreak in 2002, Israel began construction of a barrier that would separate most of the West Bank from areas inside Israel. The Israeli government has insisted the barrier was erected to protect its citizens from suicide bombings and other terrorist acts that accompanied the Second Intifada. The barrier was built in and around the West Bank in the wake of the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising, which began in 2000. . Between the Second Intifada—a Palestinian uprising that included rioting, the firing of mortar shells into Israel, and multiple suicide bombings—and the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks in America, the Israeli government, headed by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, began building a “separation fence” in 2002 to frustrate potential terrorists from entering Israel. The Gaza Strip, with a population of some 2 million people in 365 km2 is one of the most densely populated places on the globe. Separation barrier. For Palestinians, the barrier has a profound effect on their government’s ability to effectively administer basic services. Interesting analysis:. This name recalls the governments of places like South Africa, where a majority of citizens were oppressed and marginalized—often violently—by a minority government. When does the story of the Israel/West Bank barrier wall begin? Covered with graffiti, the West Bank Barrier cuts off the town of Bethlehem from the rest of Israel. Following an outbreak of violent incidents in Gaza in October 1994, Rabin announced his stance that "we have to decide on separation as a philosophy. My friends, the opposite is true…It’s quiet because a fence exists. In cities and more frequently trafficked areas, 25-foot high concrete walls dominate. It is 708 kilometers (439 miles) long. At the very best, it will by turns do both too little and too much. It's been the subject of heated argument and countless news stories. Israeli West Bank Barrier. Many voices within Israel, while supporting the construction of a defensive barrier, call for it to be located along the Green Line rather than on its current course, which dips into the West Bank in various places to incorporate Israeli settlements as well Israeli army Capt. His image then of a couple of small children with bucket and spades went viral. It is built mostly of fences and in some places it is built of high concrete walls. Barak Raz climbs a metal staircase to the top of a high concrete wall that is part of Israel's West Bank barrier. The Great Wall of China, the Berlin Wall, Hadrian’s Wall: with time and perspective, the most famous walls of history have gained widely recognized and accepted names. The court noted that Israel has argued that the barrier is "temporary" and its "sole purpose is to enable it effectively to combat terrorist attacks launched from the West Bank." Some small settlements may be removed from the West Bank, but only in order to rationalise Israel’s occupation by relocating personnel and resources. Most of the international community considers these settlements to be in violation of international law. We do not want a majority of the Jewish residents of the state of Israel, 98% of whom live within the borders of sovereign Israel, including a united Jerusalem, to be subject to terrorism. Innocent people paid with both life and limb. the Green Line, which now officially delimits Israel from the West Bank.' Covered with graffiti, the West Bank Barrier cuts off the town of Bethlehem from the rest of Israel. The section follows the border between Bat Hefer and Tulkarm communities. Here, a professor of Israel studies and the author of a new primer on the Israeli-Palestinian confict explains the history of the West Bank settlements – and why they’re so controversial. Separation barrier in the West Bank or along the Green Line. Open gallery view The Jerusalem separation barrier, by the numbers. In more rural settings, the Israeli government erected fences fortified with barbed wire. Rabin said that Israel must "take Gaza out of Tel Aviv", in order to minimize friction between the peoples. When finished, the wall, along with Israeli settlements, Israeli-only highways, closed military zones, and “nature reserves” are projected to cover 46% of the occupied West Bank, effectively annexing it to Israel. Much of that fencing encloses Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Barrier, wall or fence constructed to limit the movement of people across a certain border, or to separate people or cultures. It was intended to regulate Palestinian movement into Israel. Israel’s West Bank Wall. Over 80% of the Israel/West Bank barrier is constructed on the Palestinian side of the Green Line, the internationally recognized border between Israel and the West Bank. Israel-West-Bank barrier is a wall built by the State of Israel to separate Palestinian territories from Israel. The roots of the political factions and the worldview of Israel's right wing have created a tension about the construction of the barrier and its ultimate placement. Roughly 75 percent of settlers live on or near the West Bank border with Israel. The Israeli-West Bank barrier that Israel has been constructing since 2002 is damaging Palestinians' culture, education and economy, says a Cornell scholar who recently returned from four months as a Fulbright scholar studying the social impact of the separation barrier. Land for construction of Barrier sections inside the West Bank has … While the wall impedes daily life for many Palestinians, it is by no means an impermiable barrier; many Palestinians go to and from work in Israel on a daily basis, though the wait to get through can sometimes be long. Sometimes it is a wall, mostly it is a fence, and sometimes there’s only a patrol road. We want to reach a separation between us and them. About 500,000 Israelis live in the settlements, of which there are about 130 scattered around the West Bank. The territory, excluding East Jerusalem, is also known within Israel by its biblical names, Judea and Samaria. Dr. Danny Tirza. It’s often referred to as the Separation wall. As with so many historical phenomena, it depends. It’s often referred to as the Separation wall. "Israel made great efforts to loop the barrier around settlements and strategic areas of the West Bank that it wished to keep on its side under any future peace deal," the New York Times said. Israel-West-Bank barrier is a wall built by the State of Israel to separate Palestinian territories from Israel. The court noted that Israel has argued that the barrier is "temporary" and its "sole purpose is to enable it effectively to combat terrorist attacks launched from the West Bank." Israel’s West Bank barrier fence cost about $1.6 million per mile to build. But Israel’s best-known barrier is the one built along and inside the West Bank after a surge of terrorist attacks. In early 1995, the Shahal commission was established by Yitzhak Rabin to discuss how to implement a barrier separating Israelis and Palestinians. The Israeli Supreme Court made reference to the conditions and history that led to the building of the barrier. As with so many historical phenomena, it depends. Turkey built a barrier in the southern province of Alexandretta, which was formerly in Syria and is an area that Syria claims as its own. The construction of the barrier makes it no easier to figure out what to call it. Palestine will likely demand a contiguous, sovereign state and will not cede any more land to Israel. The West Bank barrier has been highly controversial ever since the Israeli government decided to build it in 2002. Its barrier across the Sinai was more like $3 million per mile. Security Effectiveness of the Israeli West Bank Barrier. Now it is being challenged in court, both in Israel and at the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Read more about this topic:  Israeli West Bank Barrier, Overview, “When we of the so-called better classes are scared as men were never scared in history at material ugliness and hardship; when we put off marriage until our house can be artistic, and quake at the thought of having a child without a bank-account and doomed to manual labor, it is time for thinking men to protest against so unmanly and irreligious a state of opinion.”—William James (1842–1910), “A stated truth loses its grace, but a repeated error appears insipid and ridiculous.”—Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749–1832), “In using the strong hand, as now compelled to do, the government has a difficult duty to perform. The Gaza Strip, with a population of some 2 million people in 365 km2 is one of the most densely populated places on the globe. This barrier is 2-3 times taller and thicker than the Berlin Wall was in Germany. This triggered the Israeli decision to build a barrier on the West Bank. Completed in 2003 to huge worldwide controversy. The names for more recent borders are less established. Benjamin Netanyahu is planning to build a security barrier between the West Bank and Jordan in a move aimed at asserting Israel's control over the borders of a future Palestinian state. Palestinians say the construction of the barrier system will take some of their land.” It is built mostly of fences and in some places it is built of high concrete walls. The term “Settlements” usually refers to the towns and villages that Jews established in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) and the Gaza Strip (prior to the disengagement) since Israel captured the area in the Six-Day War of 1967. There has to be a clear border. The elevation span between the shoreline of the Dead Sea at −408 m to the highest point at Mount Nabi Yunis, at 1,030 m (3… . (Source: “Israel building fence along West Bank”, CNN.com,18 June 2002) “Israelis say the huge fence system being built along their border with the West Bank will give them more security. First of all, the best way to describe it would be a “barrier”. Many nations have fences to protect their borders - the United States, for example, has one to prevent illegal immigration. I hear they are saying today that because it’s quiet, it’s possible to take down the fence. One such example is the Israeli West Bank barrier. For the purposes of this exhibit, the story of the wall starts then. West Bank, area of the former British-mandated (1920–47) territory of Palestine west of the Jordan River, claimed from 1949 to 1988 as part of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan but occupied from 1967 by Israel. The West Bank has an area of 5,628 square kilometres (2,173 sq mi), which comprises 21.2% of former Mandatory Palestine (excluding Jordan) and has generally rugged mountainous terrain. For many Palestinians, the barrier is known as the “wall of apartheid” (جدار الفصل العنصري). Some speculate that because sections of the barrier are not built along the Green Line but in the West Bank, the real purpose is to acquire territory Some people describe the barrier as the de facto future border of the State of Israel. While we must, by all available means, prevent the overthrow of the government, we should avoid planting and cultivating too many thorns in the bosom of society.”—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865). (That reduction also coincides with the cooling and eventual end of the Second Intifada in 2005.) West Bank Barrier In 2002, the Government of Israel approved construction of a Barrier in and around the West Bank with the stated purpose of preventing violent attacks by Palestinians in Israel. The Israeli Supreme Court made reference to the conditions and history that led to the building of the barrier. The Wall in the West Bank has a precedent: since 1994 the Gaza Strip has been surrounded by a barrier that cuts off Palestinians there from the rest of the world. It is 708 kilometers (439 miles) long. The barrier divides the West Bank and is a network of concrete walls, fences and closed military roads. You could start the story of the wall with the Zionist movements of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, which saw tens of thousands of Jews moving to British-controlled Palestine in an effort to establish a Jewish homeland away from the antisemitism they encountered in Europe and Russia. Abstract: Objectives — Informed by situational crime prevention (SCP) this study evaluates the effectiveness of the “West Bank Barrier” that the Israeli government began to construct in 2002 in order to prevent suicide bombing attacks. The barrier was built in and around the West Bank in the wake of the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising, which began in 2000. You could start the story of the wall in 1967, after the resounding victory by the Israeli Defense Forces over Egypt, Jordan, and Syria in a conflict known as the Six-Day War, and the subsequent Israeli retreat back to the 1949 Armistice line, or what has become known as the “Green Line.” As an attempt to prevent Palestinian terrorists from entering Israel, the Israeli government began constructing a barrier in 2002. Saudi Arabia built a 60-mile barrier along an undefined border zone with Yemen to halt arms smuggling of weaponry and announced plans in 2006 to build a 500-mile fence along its border with Iraq. Some call it a "fence," an "apartheid wall" and a "separation barrier." You could start the story with Mohammed’s ascent into heaven in al-Quds/ Jerusalem. The attacks did not cease. While a barrier between Israel and the West Bank had been proposed by Israeli politicians as early as 1992, the Second Intifada of 2000 was the catalyst for the barrier’s construction. For many Palestinians, the barrier stands as a symbol of oppression and aggression by and occupying power. By the end of 2004, Israel had fortified the border with the northern part of the West Bank, while the southern part was unprotected by the barrier, as you can see in the map below. In June 2002, under the pretext of security, the Israeli government began unilaterally constructing a wall to separate Palestinians in the occupied West Bank from Israel and occupied East Jerusalem, and from Israeli settlements built inside the West Bank. The very notion of territorial compromise in the West Bank is Analysis: Why Netanyahu can’t finish West Bank security barrier At issue is not a “hole” or “breach” in the fence, but rather more than 250 km. The West Bank barrier has been highly controversial ever since the Israeli government decided to build it in 2002 and it remains a bitter bone of contention after Israel's evacuation of … (Res.) In the September 2005 decision, it described the history of violence against Israeli citizens since the breakout of the Second Intifada and the loss of life that ensued on the Israeli side. The first section of the wall (as slabs of concrete contiguous for miles) that stood as a barrier was constructed during the Oslo accords negotiations in 1994. It is constructed as a multi-layered fence system. Built in phases from 1994, the Israeli West Bank Wall stretches 440 miles (708 km), mostly along the 1949 Armistice "Green" Line. "Israel considers it a security barrier against terrorism, while Palestinians call it a racial segregation or apartheid wall. Much like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the story of the security fence between Israel and the West Bank consists of two different narratives, each claiming to be the ultimate, truthful account. Danny Tirza, PhD, former Head of the Rainbow Operation Administration of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), who, in this role planned and led the establishment of the fence/wall/barrier, in a July 1, 2012 article for Al-Monitor, titled “Israeli Security Fence Architect: Why the Barrier Had to Be Built,” wrote: In 2012 it was reported that Israeli negotiators had proposed to Palestinians that the barrier would become a border between Israel and the State of Palestine. Following an attack on HaSharon Junction, near the city of Netanya, Rabin made his goals more specific: This path must lead to a separation, though not according to the borders prior to 1967. In some cases, the settlements are in the same area where flourishing Jewish communities have lived for thousands of years. The checkpoints along the barrier are not only for the residents of the West Bank but also for tens of thousands of Jerusalemites, who, for lack of building opportunities in the city due to severe building restrictions Israel imposes on Palestinian neighborhoods, move to the suburbs outside the city. In June 2002, the Israeli Cabinet decided to erect a physical barrier separating Israel and the West Bank with the declared objective of regulating the entry of Palestinians from the West Bank into Israel. Israeli Security Fence Architect: Why The Barrier Had to Be Built. The court ruling also cited the attempts Israel had made to defend its citizens, including "military operations" carried out against "terrorist acts", and stated that these actions... ...did not provide a sufficient answer to the immediate need to stop the severe acts of terrorism. Most Israelis believe the barrier and intensive activity by the Israel Defense Forces to be the main factors in the decrease in successful suicide attack from the West Bank. Completed in 2003 to huge worldwide controversy. 1. In fact, when the It can properly have no motive of revenge, no purpose to punish merely for punishment’s sake. Separation Barrier, Security Fence, Fence Since 2002, Israel has been constructing a wall that stretches for more than 700 kilometres, annexing Palestinian land inside the occupied West Bank Israel began building its separation wall in the occupied West Bank in June 2002, claiming that it … BBC News Online answers questions about the plan. In the case of the barrier between Israel and the West Bank, what you call the wall largely depends on which side of the barrier you’re on, and more specifically, what you believe the barrier is meant to accomplish. This is more than twice the length of Israel’s border with the West Bank, as the wall snakes deep inside the West Bank to encompass many Israeli settlements on the western side.