ISRAELI WALL TO ENCIRCLE PALESTINE

Sharon accused of turning territories into huge prison

Chris McGreal in Jerusalem
Tuesday March 18, 2003
The Guardian

Ariel Sharon has told his cabinet that he plans to extend the "security fence" Israel is building along the length of the West Bank so that it entirely encircles any Palestinian state.
The revelation, which follows the Israeli government's decision to oppose full independence for Palestine in favour of a state with "certain attributes of sovereignty", immediately drew fire from the Palestinians who accused the Israeli prime minister of trying to turn the occupied territories into a huge prison.

Meanwhile, the Israeli army killed 10 Palestinians, including a four-year-old girl, in a raid on a Gaza refugee camp yesterday.

Hanan Ansar and two teenagers were among those killed as tanks and helicopters led an assault on Nusseirat camp in search of wanted Palestinians and to destroy the homes of "terrorists".

Mr Sharon dropped what is being called a political bombshell on Sunday while taking his cabinet on a secret tour of the fence, which is a six-metre (20ft) wall topped with barbed wire and lined with guard towers in many places.

The 230-mile wall and fence already under construction will extend the length of the West Bank, creeping deep inside Palestinian territory for long stretches. It will almost surround at least one, and probably two, cities.

Now Mr Sharon is proposing to link the two ends of the fence already under construction with an additional section along the length of the Jordan valley. But he denied it was intended to define the borders of a Palestinian state ahead of the implementation of the American "road map".

"A fence is not a political border. It is not a security border but rather another means to assist in the war against terror, and greatly assist in stopping illegal aliens," Mr Sharon said.

The move was condemned by the Palestinians who said it would effectively turn any future state into a prison with the Israelis controlling access.

"This just confirms that the wall is not to separate the West Bank from Israelis, it's to separate Palestinians into their reservation," said Michael Tarazi of the PLO's negotiations support unit. "It means that the Israelis will take con trol of our border with Jordan and what remains of the best agricultural land we have. The wall near the green line has already taken a lot of our best land and now they are going to do the same with what remains in the Jordan valley.

"If they think this is going to create a 'fact on the ground' that they don't want to remove, that would kill any chance of a negotiated settlement."

The first 80-mile stretch of wall and fence, running north from near the city of Qalqiliya, is nearly complete and expected to be turned over to the control of the army in July.

By the end of the year a second section enclosing the entire northern border of the West Bank should be finished and work will then concentrate on the southern part of the Palestinian territories around Jerusalem and Hebron.

The new section planned by Mr Sharon would link the wall near Hebron with the barrier in the far north of the West Bank by running the full length of the Jordan valley.

Jeff Halper, a respected documenter of Israeli expansion in the occupied territories, said it was hard to justify building a wall through the Jordan valley as a protection against terrorism.

"If you're talking in terms of terrorism from the Palestinian side, there's not much to attack in the Jordan valley. It's not like the wall on the other side where you've got Israel," he said.

"So it's hard not to conclude that they are using the wall to create a de facto border that basically reduces the West Bank to the 45% or 50% that Sharon is talking about giving the Palestinians, all truncated."

The Israeli government portrays the wall as a temporary measure to contain attacks within its 1967 borders until there is a political settlement.

But Mr Tarazi questions whether Israel will find the political will to tear down the wall, given that it has the support of all the major parties.

"Anything is reversible if you have a will. The question is whether there is any on the part of Israel," he said.

"brave Palestinian people "

A true Oxymoron.

And you're just a MORON.

...is a monument to evil. It speaks volumes of the disegenuousness of the Israeli Government. The home Rachel Correy died defending was being attacked and torn down for no reason other than it obstructed the view of Snipers from the Wall of Terror.

Lunacy.

The state of Israel is wholly surrounded by despotic Arab regimes which have committed themselves to her extermination. The Arabs living in the West Bank and Gaza have long been funded and supplied with armaments and explosives which they use to kill Israeli civilians almost exclusively. This wall dramatically reduces the illicit movement of arms, explosives, ammunition, and terrorists into the State of Israel.

Rachel Corey (aka Squishy the Hippie Chick) was a member of an organization which is in collusion with terrorist entities. They have been caught harboring known terrorists, storing arms and explosives, and members of their organization have been accused of taking up arms against the IDF. They should be suppressed and imprisoned.

Thank you.

...regimes installed by British and American Oil Companies back in the teens and twenties?

Psymon - as always your half the picture analysis falls way short of the truth.

Israel, through terror and intimidation, has sought to suppress and expel the Palestinian People from their own lands. The policies have been illegal settlements creating provocations and then when some hothead takes the bait to respond with withering and overwhelming force not just against the perpetrator, but to use it as weapon of terror in the furtherance of the Israeli State Policy of Zionist Supremecy. The means and methods are inhuman and thankfully the Israeli Spin Machine can no longer hold back the tide of the truth. Their crimes will be exposed; are being exposed. The excuse of the Holocaust no longer cuts it because you now have a growing number of people who lost family in the Holocaust who are nevertheless committed to giving honest name to the Israeli War Crimes.
"Never Again" has been joined by Not in Our Name!

The fact remains that there remains only one state in the entire Middle East where an Arab can vote in free and fair elections. That state is Israel.

What exactly is your (twisted and incorrect) point concerning the founding of the Arab states surrounding Israel? Oh, and it was the French and British who did the dividing, so put your paranoia cap away.

The states surrounding Israel are a disgrace. They are, without exception, incredibly corrupt, ignorant, repressive, and cruel. Did you ever bother to take a cyber stroll over to www.memri.org and read what the Arabs actually say? These people are unconnected to reality. So you might feel at home.

Iraq will be the first functioning Democracy in Arab soil. Brought to you by the Bush and Blair and Howard Administrations. Iran is coming soon. And Syria.

Stay tuned. Bush in 2004. Rice in 2008 and 2012.

You boys are in for a long ride.

“The fact remains that there remains only one state in the entire Middle East where an Arab can vote in free and fair elections. That state is Israel.”

Which by law limits the Arab population to 15% - in a land that in 1947 was about 2 to 1 Arabs to Zionist Invaders. Arabs which although having lived there longer than the invading Zionists are forced to live under Israeli “Jim Crow” Laws limiting their freedom and denying them full citizen rights. (There were about 1.2 Million Native Palestinians to about 660,000 Zionists in 1947.)

I have never argued the point that the, artificially created, countries surrounding Israel were anything other than Barbaric Fiefdoms handed out to chattels of the British Empire. Does that somehow justify Israel’s disregard for International Law and common decency?

“Iraq will be the first functioning Democracy in Arab soil. Brought to you by the Bush and Blair and Howard Administrations. Iran is coming soon. And Syria...”

This so sickly hilarious as to bring tears. Iraq is descending into even greater chaos with imminent famine, destruction of it’s culture, it’s cultural heritage, and confiscation of it’s wealth by an invading power. Many more thousands will die as a result of this travesty. Every new death can rightfully be considered as to have been brought to you by the “Bush and Blair and Howard Administrations.”

It is a measure of their concern that the U.S. Government has denied entry to foreign relief organizations who dared to speak ill of our beloved Fuhrer’s War of Conquest.

voting is bullshit. just because you can vote doesnt mean jack shit.

The land that Israel is built on was stolen

The homes were stolen.

who gives a shit if you can vote? would you sacrifice all your property for a right to vote?

Given the Palestinians history, I don't see a choice. When Palestine becomes an independent state, Israel has every right to set up a buffer to keep them on one side and Palestine on the other.

What people haven't considered is that once Palestine becomes a state, any subsequent homicide bombing attempts against Israel organized from inside the state of Palestine from Hamas and Islamic Jihad and the like are going to be the responsibility of the leaders of Palestine to end. To allow these organizations to continue their reign of terror against Israel is an act of war. A barrier keeping the two states seperate might well be welcomed by both states. If I'm Israel, I'm building a wall all the way around my country and lock myself in. Things like water rights, etc with neighboring countries can be negotiated. But why leave an open border and thus an open invitation for terrorists to walk in and blow themselves up.

He he he. Famine.

You are being so timid, Diogenes. This is INDYMEDIA, man. Let it out.

You should say that the entire population of Iraq is ALREADY DEAD. They were all killed by, by, THE BLACK PLAUGE!!!! It was released by the Americans when they invaded! And, and, the American soldiers are all cannibals! They're eating the evidence of all their heinous crimes!

Now that's more like it.

Nobody is going to die from famine, Dio. Nobody. Uncle Sam is in da house. And you Leftists make me laugh with your new-found concern for Iraqi 'culture'. I guess since every other prediction you guys cooked up came out dead wrong, you'll grasp any straw you can. What a joke. The Iraqi culture will be just fine. The environment of the state will improve dramatically. The infrastructure and institutions will be strengthened considerably. All is well, the adults (Republicans) are in charge.

The founding of the State of Israel was a problematic one, no question. I have been a critic of the Israelis for a long time - and often questioned their positions. The attack on the USS Liberty was an especially egregious act.

But as bad as the Israelis can be, the Arab states and their 'palestinian' allies are Infinitely worse. And did you cry for the poor 'palestinians' slaughtered by Assad?

Here's a link to your favorite polemicist, Mr. Fisk.

http://leb.net/pipermail/lexington-net/2000-June/002142.html

Assad slaughtered 20,000 'palestinians'. With artillery and tanks and gas. The Arab states don't give a rat's behind for these 'palestinians'. They use them as a convenient club to beat the Jews with. And when they don't need them, they continue to treat them as less then human - keeping them in camps, denying them civil or even human rights.

There will be peace in the Middle East. It will come with the victory of the West over the despotisms currently in power.

And it will come over the endless shrill whining of the cowardly and appeasement-minded Left here in the West.

...that, in the short term, a return of humanity to Israeli policy would have little effect. However, the continued theft of Palestinian Land, destruction of their Groves and homes is not going to endear Israel to the Palestinians. The long term policy of Israel, stated over and over again, has been to isolate the Palestinians, drive them into a corner, and then force them out or liquidate them. Israel is creating it's own enemies by the continued pursuance of inhumane and outright evil policies. So long as Israeli State Policy is State Terrorism they get in return what they have sown.

Would anyone here be willing to give me a golden shower?

I don't agree that Israel is a terrorist state, but that's besides the point.

Once the barrier is set up, and Palestine is a state, then any unprovoked intrusion by Israel into Palestine would be an act of war. So Israel would be left knowing what their borders are, and Palestine would be left knowing their borders, and they both would know that it would be necessary to keep their population or any entities operating from within their borders from crossing over and creating havoc on the other.

Now the big problem the pro-Palestinian side will have with this is that Israel will prosper and Palestine side will not. They will be left by their Arab brothers to rot, just like they've always left them there to rot.

israel population = roughly 6 million
US annual aid to israel = $3billion

hehe with that much aid israel better fuckin prosper.

...out of the American Tax Payer's pocket Israel's Socialist Economy would collapse. Their false prosperity is built upon U.S. Subsidies of their profligate, and expansionist, policies.