Btselem's recent report: Is the fence/wall based on purely security needs?
Btselem has released a report claiming that the route of the separation barrier/wall/fence is based on political (ie - for the benefit of settlement expansion) rather than simply security as Israel claims.
The report claims:
1. the settlement's expansion plans significantly affected the Barrier's route.
2. The currently approved route of the Barrier leaves fifty-five settlements, separated from the rest of the West Bank and contiguous with the State of Israel. The Barrier's route was set hundreds, and even thousands, of meters from the houses at the edge of the settlement.
3. The route of the Separation Barrier running near each of the twelve settlements discussed in the report more or less follows the borders of the outline development plan for the particular settlement, making it impossible to argue there is no connection between the route and the plan.
4. Not only were security-related reasons of secondary importance in certain locations, in cases when they conflicted with settlement expansion, the planners opted for expansion, even at the expense of compromised security.
It is now broadly admittedy even by a moderate like Tzipi Livni that the fence serves a political as well as a security purpose; namely determining the future border of the State of Israel. The Btselem report is in a sense simply documenting what is already known. Bibi Netanyahu has even suggested that were he be elected PM he would change the route of the fence so it goes deeper into the West Bank, which is a ridiculous proposal.
I for one am sceptical of the claim that the fence will determine a final political border. No palestinian leader including Abu Mazen will accept the current route of the fence and nor will it be recognised as a border by the international community. Incidentally, I support the building of the fence/wall. It is obviously something which Israel ideally should never have had to do but given the reality of Palestinian terrorism was necessary. That does not mean, however, that the route of the fence/wall should meander around settlements (including consideration for settlement growth) and to create more facts on the ground. Link
The report claims:
1. the settlement's expansion plans significantly affected the Barrier's route.
2. The currently approved route of the Barrier leaves fifty-five settlements, separated from the rest of the West Bank and contiguous with the State of Israel. The Barrier's route was set hundreds, and even thousands, of meters from the houses at the edge of the settlement.
3. The route of the Separation Barrier running near each of the twelve settlements discussed in the report more or less follows the borders of the outline development plan for the particular settlement, making it impossible to argue there is no connection between the route and the plan.
4. Not only were security-related reasons of secondary importance in certain locations, in cases when they conflicted with settlement expansion, the planners opted for expansion, even at the expense of compromised security.
It is now broadly admittedy even by a moderate like Tzipi Livni that the fence serves a political as well as a security purpose; namely determining the future border of the State of Israel. The Btselem report is in a sense simply documenting what is already known. Bibi Netanyahu has even suggested that were he be elected PM he would change the route of the fence so it goes deeper into the West Bank, which is a ridiculous proposal.
I for one am sceptical of the claim that the fence will determine a final political border. No palestinian leader including Abu Mazen will accept the current route of the fence and nor will it be recognised as a border by the international community. Incidentally, I support the building of the fence/wall. It is obviously something which Israel ideally should never have had to do but given the reality of Palestinian terrorism was necessary. That does not mean, however, that the route of the fence/wall should meander around settlements (including consideration for settlement growth) and to create more facts on the ground. Link
posted by SJ at 3:43 AM
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