The Following document has been prepared by the PLO's
Negotiations Affairs Department1:
What's wrong with Israel's unilateral separation and the
construction of a wall?
The wall will not be built on Israel's border. Israel has already
announced that it will build the wall to the east of Israel's
border in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, thereby de facto
annexing more Palestinian land. The strategy is to annex as much
Palestinian land as possible while militarily caging in as many
Palestinians as possible, all in an attempt to continue Israel's
colonization and occupation of Palestinian land. At the same time,
Israel will effectively isolate Palestinian population centers from
one another, and restrict not only freedom of movement of
individuals but also of goods and services, thereby worsening an
already crippled Palestinian economy.
Isn't the wall necessary for Israel's security?
No. The wall is not protecting Israeli citizens inside Israel, it
is instead protecting Israel's occupation, illegal colonies and
ongoing colonization of Palestinian land. If Israel is truly
interested in its security it will do one or both of the following:
(1) withdraw completely from all of the territories it occupied in
1967 or (2) place additional security on its internationally
recognized border, rather than in the Occupied Palestinian
Territories. Israel has long had the formula for peace and security
- end the occupation. In exchange for its complete withdrawal from
Palestinian and other Arab land occupied in 1967, Israel will live
in peace and in security. Despite the fact that peace and
normalization were recently offered to Israel by the entire Arab
world during the Arab League Summit of March 2002, Israel walked
away from this gesture, demonstrating that it prefers land and
colonization to peace and security.
What is Israel really trying to do by building a
wall?
Israel is attempting to annex parts of the Occupied Palestinian
Territories by establishing militarily-enforced Palestinian ghettos
corresponding to the Palestinian population centers, while
continuing its illegal colonization policy. The walls will ensure
that Palestinians are denied the ability to move, while Israeli
settlers will be able to freely travel throughout the Occupied
Palestinian Territories.
Unilateral separation and walls will also ensure that Occupied East
Jerusalem is completely sealed off from the rest of the Occupied
West Bank, in violation of international law, UN Resolutions and
the stated policy of the US.
