Comments on: The Wall, 10 years on: The great Israeli project

By: Jan

Jan — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 21:23:34 +0000

@Tony – No matter how many times it is repeated this is NOT your land. No one in the international community recognizes the West Bank as your land. Yes, you have stolen portions of the land. Yes, you have built the settlements in a way to steal even more land. Yes, you have built the apartheid wall in a manner to grab more land.
Some day the world will reckon with you and tell you to get the hell out of the West Bank or face consequences. That day cannot come too soon.

By: Tony

Tony — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 03:33:12 +0000

we have already have seen your ‘symphathy’ for ages. We do not need your ‘symphathy’.
All this is OUR land.

By: Yani

Yani — Sat, 14 Jul 2012 19:04:37 +0000

I’d like to know tons of cement and tons of CO2 produced in making it. (The other hideous stuff I know).

Send me an email if you know those details.

By: Brian Hall

Brian Hall — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 14:50:00 +0000

My neighbor had a big dog. His dog kept crossing into my back yard and shitting on my lawn. I built a large fence and now the dog shits on his owners lawn – who now must clean his own dogs feces up. It’s pretty simple, regardless of how much political drama you attempt to load your argument up with: BEFORE I built my fence, the dog made a mess of my lawn (*I spoke to the owner – he didn’t care) AFTER I built my fence, my lawn regained its beauty (sans dog spots)! For YEARS the palestinians have waged a campaign of violence against the Jews AND their allies – America, France, Italy, etc. And for years we have reacted. Now that the Israelis have become proactive and built a (massive) barrier essentially nullifying further bombing attacks, the palestinians cry “foul”. Palestinians CONSTANTLY mutter about zionist this & that (the Lemon Tree WAS a good movie though) but if we reach back in time its clear that they have been JUST (if not more) as aggressive as the Israeli army. For example, remember the PFLP in 68′? Black September? Al Fatah? Yeah, you cats have LOTS of blood on your hands…lots and lots. So look in the mirror, then look out the window at THE WALL and ask yourself “who is REALLY to blame?” Stert cleaning up your OWN backyard then your neighbors will trust you! ~ peace

By: STRADDLING DA WALL

STRADDLING DA WALL — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 12:17:33 +0000

What suprises me the most is the ignorance of most Israelis towards what the Wall is concretly. This point is particularly relevant to understant its political use.

The Wall offers to the public opinion an image of security, a sense of relief, of separation that was asked by popular mobilizations. Its building was decided according to political concerns (namely adding a new level of Israli facts on the ground in the West Bank in case of negociations + shaping a new device to control palestinian mobilities thus perpetuating the Occupation after the collapse of Oslo. Security is a cover : Sharon knew that only a reoccupation of the sanctuaries of suicide-bombers in Jenin, Nablus or Qalqiliya would break the attacks. He also understood that the need for a relief/separation wall was high in Israeli society and that he could build the wall wherever he wanted according to his political opinion regarding the West Bank.

Indeed, Sharon admitted that the wall was a populist idea (Amit Ben-Aroya, “Sharon to Seam Area Police: The Separation Fence is a Populist Idea”, Ha’aretz. April 12, 2002).

So thank you for these articles that describe concretly again and again this political tool.

By: Jack

Jack — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 20:56:02 +0000

Rodrigo,
” The idea that Israel isn’t allowed to build a wall in the West Bank because it is not allowed to protect itself from the residents of the West Bank is laughable”
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Obviously you havent read the report. The report wouldnt have been made UNLESS Israel insisted to build the wall on palestinian land. Thats what the report criticize the fact that its 1. Politically built and 2. Built on occupied palestinian land. Thats a fact, if you dont accept that go ahead.
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“The route here is irrelevant since the court rejected the basis for the wall. ”
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The route is EXACTLY WHY the court even looked into this issue at all (remember its politically motivated and illegal).
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“‘Palestinian Occupied Territory’ is a descriptive term of the area of mandatory Palestine that isn’t a part of Israel, not an assignment of ownership or sovereignty.”
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It belongs to the palestinians (PA authority land). And of course its part of Israel since Israel being the occupying force and therefore have the obligation to support civilians living under their occupation. Israel havent done this, instead they have embarked on collective punishment also that illegal according to international law.

By: Rodrigo

Rodrigo — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 20:40:28 +0000

Jack, Yes, it did disregard Israeli security considerations. The idea that Israel isn’t allowed to build a wall in the West Bank because it is not allowed to protect itself from the residents of the West Bank is laughable. The route here is irrelevant since the court rejected the basis for the wall. Also, what you seem to not understand is that calling the West Bank ‘Palestinian Occupied Territory’ is a descriptive term of the area of mandatory Palestine that isn’t a part of Israel, not an assignment of ownership or sovereignty. This is a fine trick that the Palestinian leadership has pulled over the past 40 years, but it has no actual basis in international law.
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Aresteides, the proper function of an occupying power is precisely that – to hold on to the land until a permanent settlement is reached. That function includes the right to undertake actions for the purposes of defense and administration, including building a wall. Also, Israel’s claim to the West Bank precedes the 1967 war, so the occupation of the territory in 1967 has little impact on the underlying claim.
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Jordan’s cession of the West Bank has no bearing on the matter since Jordan was never a legitimate owner of the territory. Please provide a list of countries that recognized Jordan’s annexation of the West Bank. That list is going to be rather short.
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State land is a reality that exists under Ottoman, British and Jordanian law as it applies to the West Bank. In addition to Jewish ownership of land in the West Bank this makes the claim that the Palestinians as individuals own the entirety of the West Bank simply unsustainable.

By: aristeides

aristeides — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 12:38:43 +0000

Rodrigo – the proper function of an occupying power is to serve as a sort of trustee of the land and population until a permanent settlement is reached. NOT to appropriate it for itself. Since Jordan has ceded its claim on the West Bank, sovereignty over the territory belongs by right to the Palestinians.

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The myth of “state land” in Palestine is only a mask for appropriation, and it can’t legally apply to occupied territory. Since occupied territory doesn’t belong to the Israeli state, it can’t be Israeli state land.

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Most of this “state land” is only expropriated land under another name, which Israel has claimed using the most despicable tricks, such as fencing off Palestinian land, preventing access by its owners, then calling it “abandoned.” This is one of the uses of the wall project, which I assume Haggai will cover in due course.

By: Greg Pollock

Greg Pollock — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 07:56:40 +0000

Haggai,
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You’ve taken on the symbolic core of the occupation/conflict. Most don’t want it vented. Braver you are than I ever was.

By: phlegmatico

phlegmatico — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 07:19:43 +0000

It is not the job of the zionist project to save every possible Hebrew life. The job is to protect the existence of the Hebrew People.

All borders everywhere, have ===only=== a political reason for existing.