Apartheid Wall: Land Theft and Forced Expulsion The Wall is not being built on, or in most cases near the 1967 Green Line, but rather cuts deep into the West Bank,expanding Israel's theft of Palestinian land and resources. When completed, the Wall will de facto annex some 47% of the West Bank, isolating communities into bantustans,enclaves and “military zones”.The Palestinian population in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, including almost 1.5 million refugees, will be living on only 12% of historic Palestine. Nearly 16% of Palestinians in the West Bank will be “outside” the Wall in the de facto annexed areas by Israel and in unbearable living conditions - the loss of land, markets,movement and livelihoods - and faced with expulsion. This includes over 200,000 residents of East Jerusalem, who will be totally isolated from the rest of the West Bank. 98 % of the settler population will be included in the de facto annexed areas.The Wall is not a new “idea” - since 1994 the Gaza Strip has been surrounded by a barrier which cuts off the residents from the rest of the world; in the past year Israel has been expanding this barrier as well as building a new “Iron Wall”.
The Apartheid Wall's Location and Costs
The Wall's total length will be some 730 km
.Currently, the Wall is being built in the districts of Qalqiliya, Tulkarem, Jenin, Ramallah, Jerusalem, and Bethlehem by some 250 bulldozers while measurements in preparation for the Wall are taking placeacross the West Bank. The Apartheid Wall costs some $3.4 billion, approximately $4.7 million per kilometer.245 km of the Wall has already been completed.
Apartheid Wall as a Network - The concrete Wall is present in Bethlehem, Qalqiliya, parts of Tulkarem and throughout the Jerusalem envelope. It is 8 meters high - twice the height of the Berlin Wall - with armed watchtowers and a “buffer zone” 30-100 meters wide for electric fences, trenches, cameras,sensors, and military patrol.
- In other places, the Wall consists of layers of razor wire,military patrol roads, sand paths to trace footprints,ditches and surveillance cameras.
The Apartheid Wall's “buffer zone” paves the way for large-scale demolitions and the expulsion
of nearby residents as in many places the Wall is located just meters away from homes, shops, and schools.In addition to the Wall, some communities in the “first phase” have been closed-off by an “Isolation Barrier”, ensuring they are surrounded on all sides.The Israeli military has created “gates” in the Apartheid Wall; however these do not provide any guarantee for farmers to access their land but instead strengthen Israel's strangling system of permits and checkpoints where Palestinians are beaten,detained, shot at and humiliated. more information coming sooooooon
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