Edited by the Palestinian Environmental NGOs Network (PENGON) Jerusalem, 2003

PP 199

THE WALL, the fence, the separation barrier or the security fence, the result is the same — blockading every West Bank district.

In 2002, an Israeli military order was issued calling for the construction of what was called a “security barrier” north of Jerusalem and inside the West Bank as part of the next stage of its expansionist and repressive policy.

This decision was based on the emergency martial law of 1949 and the implementation was given to the Israeli ministry of “defense.”

Last April, Israel announced that 27 kilometres of the “first phase” of the wall was complete. This phase of the wall, which represents only one sixth of the projected completed wall, is taking place in the districts of Qalqiliya, Tulkarm, and Jenin along with current construction for the wall in Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

This book discusses the wall's shocking impact, and its re-shaping of the entire West Bank.

The wall will affect over 65 communities — over 200,000 people. “Massive destruction has been felt by communities including the razing of agricultural land, damage to irrigation networks, isolation of water resources and the demolition of homes and community infrastructure,” according to the PENGON, a nonprofit, nongovernmental organisation whose role is to serve the Palestinian environment.

PENGON explains through facts, testimonies, analysis that thousands of people are currently affected by land confiscation and “inaccessibility to lands and water due to the caging off of their communities with concrete walls and electric fences.”

The book comprises nine articles which discuss and cover a range of topics and angles related to this massive construction — the so-called “security fence.”

“You can call it a “separation wall,” “isolation wall,” “colonial wall” or “apartheid wall”; but certainly not a “security wall... Yet none of these names reflect the shocking reality of what the wall really is,” writes Palestinian researcher Jamal Juma.

PENGON used the terms canton, enclave, ghetto, or Bantustan to describe the current situation and future scenario.

Several pictures that clearly tell the whole story of Palestinian suffering as a result of the construction of the wall, are also included in the book.

The book dedicates a section to farmers and individuals from the affected communities who tell their stories, highlighting the countless violations committed by over 200 bulldozers working on a daily basis.

Moreover, the book has a comprehensive section on the wall in international humanitarian and human rights law.

“The wall, as well as the occupation itself as its wider context, is a manifest violation of human rights and international law,” writes Mohammad Abu Harthieh from Jerusalem Centre for Human Rights.

PENGON was founded two years ago, following the start of the second Intifada, “due to the increased demands and responsibilities of Palestinian environmental organisations to defend the Palestinian environment.”

According to PENGON, its aim is to “work hand-in-hand with social justice causes while integrating social, economic and cultural rights as a part of environmental protection and defence.”

The book is available at Bustan Lil Kutab bookstore in Shmeisani.

Hada Sarhan

Monday, August 25, 2003