The wall between Palastain and isreal - Essay Example

THE APARTHEID WALL: THE ROOT CAUSE OF PALESTINIAN MISERY “You still can’t find Israel on a map of the Middle East in a Palestinian schoolbook.” This is a popular saying by Suzanne Fields, a political comentator and conservative columnist at The Washington Times, as she joined the rest of the world in lamenting over the antagonistic relations between Israel and Palestine. Indeed, the Israeli-Palestinian hostilities against each other were triggered by a number of factors; among them, a wall.

In the contemporary world, a wall is simply a vertical, solid structure that either divides or encloses a given area; but to the Israelis and Palestinians, “the wall” is more than just a barrier. It is a source of malevolence, violence and untold misery to many. The Israelis call it the “Security Fence” while the Palestinians call it the “Apartheid Wall”. This paper discusses why the Wall brought about damaging effects to the Palestinians living in and around Jerusalem.To begin with, the Wall discussed here refers to the barrier that was constructed by the Israeli Government in June, 2002.

Christison (Para 3) states that the Wall was constructed in order to serve as a protection barrier for the Israelis, with the chief objective of preventing the uncontrolled entry of the Palestinians into Israel. One reason for this was the rampant activities of suicide bombers, in what the Israelis termed as terrorism. It separated Israel from the West Bank region, and would me built along the Green Line – an internationally recognized boundary that was set up after the war in 1948 to 1949.

While the Israelis were justified to build a barrier of protection, they hardly considered the vast harmful effects that such a Wall would bring about, especially to the Palestinians.Exploring the reasons as to why the Wall resulted in misery for the Palestinians, the first would be the political philosophy of the Israeli Government, commonly known as Zionism. Zionism advocates for the separation of the Israelis from the Palestinians, including those who live in Jerusalem. It is firmly believed that this would eventually cleanse the population.

One of the key features of Zionism is the confiscation of land. This implies that the Wall would be constructed in such a manner as to curve out more land for the Israelis, a factor that would eventually help them take over control of majority of the land in question. The effect of such an action is that it has left many Palestinians without land that originally belonged to them.Secondly, the Wall covers a route that partly runs through the West Bank region. Parts of the Wall have deviated from the initially accepted route of the Green Line.

These have interfered with the activities of many Palestinians. As such, the construction of the Wall has resulted in the introduction of restrictions to movements, mostly affecting the Palestinians. Palestinians who carried out any form of activities, even economical activities like trading and farming, have now to seek official permit from the Israeli Government in order to access any area that has been curved out as part of Israel.Thirdly, the construction of the Wall has served to stall the process of growth and expansion of Palestine.

Christison (Para 5) further found that the Wall happened to curve away the more fertile areas that could be used for agriculture; hence, leaving the Palestinians with less arable land. Again, due to the restriction of their movement, traders lack means to either procure or distribute products across their previous markets, denying them any opportunity to engage in income-generating activities. The Wall also denies the Palestinians access to crucial water resources. All these have brought the process of growth and expansion of Palestine to a stand-still.

Additionally, Christison (Para 3) quotes a United Nations human rights official, John Duggard, who made a statement indicating the level of violation of the Palestinian human rights as a result of the construction of the Wall. Duggard termed the construction of the Wall as a “visible and clear act of territorial annexation under the guise of security.” In his opinion, no country was justified to construct anything that would eventually infringe on other people’s settlement areas. Christoson also goes ahead to explain that if one simply looked at the map showing the Green Line and the progressive construction of the Wall, it was crystal-clear that the route was extrapolated in some areas in order to enlarge the territorial domain of Israel, even where it was so clear that some sections of the route were deep into some Palestinian regions.

In conclusion, it is quite clear that the Wall constructed by the Israeli Government has resulted in many harmful effects for the Palestinians. Eventually, this will negatively impact on the Palestinian independence and ownership of any region that was once regarded as their native land.Works CitedChristison, Kathleen. “Israel’s Separation Wall - the Death of Palestinian Statehood.” Middle East Monitor. 5 May 2011. Web. 29 Nov. 2012.