Since the construction of the Wall, Graffiti has been a very interesting and new experience for the Palestinians as well as international activists to express the feeling towards the wall and send messages to the world by drawing and writing on it. In December 2006, Christmas and Eid Al-Adha (A Muslim holiday) came at the same time. So, a group of my friends and I decided to send our schools holiday greetings to the Alumni and supporters of our school (The Friends School) with a political message about the wall. We decided to go to the Wall separating Ramallah from Jerusalem and draw on it. It was a great experience, the Israeli soldiers were less than half a mile away from us and shouting on the loud speaker for us to go back and not get near the wall. But we decided to continue and not fear anything. Our message was sent, and many American and European friends from the Quakers came the following summer to Ramallah to witness the crime committed against humans in their land.
I would like to share some basic information about the wall which could help draw an image about it and how it is destroying the lives of the Palestinian people in the West Bank:
Length: 736 Km
Heights: 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.
The wall is not built on the 1967 green line, but rather cuts deep into the west bank
The Palestinian population in the west bank and Gaza strip will be living on only 12% of historic Palestine.
The apartheid wall costs some $3.4 billion, approximately $4.7 million per kilometer (most of the funds from the USA)
343,000 inhabitants will be between the wall and the green line
103320 trees already uprooted
Completely surround 100,000 people in 42 towns
Reduce the available water supply by 1 billion gallons
Confiscate hundreds of thousands of acres of land
Severely restrict travel to jobs, hospitals and schools
Adversely affect 4 out of 10 Palestinians
Constrains on movement of goods and people
In July 9th 2004, The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in Hague, despite intense pressure from Israel, the US and EU Governments, confirms what Palestinians and the world have known since the beginning of its planning and construction – THE WALL IS ILLEGAL!
There's a good article in the Journal of Palestine Studies (2004, volume 33, issue 2) by Peter Lagerquist called "Fencing the Last Sky: Excavating Palestine after Israel's "Separation Wall." It probably won't tell you anything you don't already know, except maybe some stuff about the origins of the wall and the IDF plan.
ReplyDeleteI'll find a copy and send it to you electronically, or bring a copy to class.
I like the pictures of Christmas celebration on the wall.
ReplyDeleteThe pictures you included were great. I also have been meaning to bring up in class the duty of the UN to stop the creation of the wall. It is a direct violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights signed in the late 1940s. All humans have the right to freedom of movement. I'm sure you are very aware of this but it just makes me wonder why this wall was allowed to be built in the first place.
ReplyDeleteBritany, actually the international court of justice rules that the wall is illegal and Israel must stop building it and remove all the parts that were already built. But it seems to me like when it comes to Israel, no laws or resolutions by any country or international organization are enforced. In fact, Israel was accepted into the United Nations on condition that it accept the Right of Return of the Palestinian refugees. Admission of Israel to membership in the United Nations (General Assembly Resolution 273 of May 11, 1949 ) requires Israel to comply with General Assembly Resolution 194 of December 11, 1948 and Israel stated it agreed to comply with this resolution. Up to this day, Israel does not recognize the right of return and unfortunately, the UN and the world are not doing anything about it.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if i can explain why this is happening and why Israel is treated as a country above the law?