 |
 |
 |
|
|
A Palestinian boy rides a bicycle alongside construction of the security barrier near the town of A-Ram. (Photo by Lior Mizrahi/BauBau)
|
|
|
|
|
|
| By Ellis Shuman June 17, 2004 |
|
| |
Construction has begun on a 2.5 kilometer (1.5 mile) long section of the security barrier just north of the municipal boundaries of Jerusalem. The barrier will separate 70,000 residents of A-Ram, many of whom have Israeli identity cards, from Jerusalem. Security officials said many suicide bombers have passed through A-Ram on their way into the capital. Work on the security fence near Ariel was halted yesterday after protesters clashed with soldiers.
Infrastructure work along Highway 60 began last week as contractors cleared the street and prepared concrete foundations for a 4.5 meter (15 feet) high wall that will be erected at the site. Residents of A-Ram will have to travel some 2.5 kilometers to the west to the Kalandiya checkpoint, from where they will be able to enter Jerusalem after inspection. A passenger "terminal" is planned to speed up entry to Israel at Kalandiya, security officials said.
At a briefing for reporters last night, security officials said the construction of the barrier near A-Ram was necessary because in the last three and a half years, there have been 591 terror attacks in Jerusalem, of which 29 were suicide bombings. In these terror attacks, 208 people were killed and 1,624 people were injured, some of them crippled for life.
A security official said that the town of A-Ram served as a "preferred route of access" for the terrorists, and a relatively easy way to infiltrate into Jerusalem. Ever since the security fence was built in the northern sector, the terrorists have moved southwards in efforts to perpetrate attacks, the official said. Twelve terror attacks originated in A-Ram itself, and therefore it was essential to separate the town from Jerusalem, he added.
Construction of the A-Ram section of the security barrier is expected to last four months.
Residents of A-Ram have asked for a hearing on the barrier's construction, and have also petitioned the High Court of Justice, ynet reported. The residents are also planning a wide campaign to win international support and protest the barrier.
Palestinian activist Padua Hadar told ynet that the barrier would turn the town into "a large prison. Instead of the government of Israel making efforts to promote the peace process, it is building a fence that will result in negative influences on both peoples."
"People will just have to start living by the rules," the head of the fence project, Col. Danny Tirza, told the Jerusalem Post in a recent interview.
Tirza told the Post that less than 25% of the planned fence route in the "Jerusalem Envelope" has been completed since construction began on the project nearly two years ago. Another 14 kilometers (8.6 miles) of the barrier is currently under construction, while other sections of a total 84 kilometers (52 miles) are on hold pending appeals to the High Court of Justice.
Protests at the Ariel Finger
Meanwhile, clashes between IDF soldiers and Palestinian demonstrators and their left-wing Israeli and international supporters temporarily halted construction along a segment of the security fence in the central West Bank.
Some 300 protesters were tear-gassed by troops as they attempted to prevent bulldozers and other heavy equipment from preparing the ground for the security fence near the village of Iskaka.
The so-called "Ariel Finger" of the fence's route is a 50-kilometer section that intrudes into the West Bank, looping around the town of Ariel and returning to the main line of the fence near the Green Line, the Jerusalem Post reported.
Israel reportedly reached an agreement with the United States that construction of the fence in the Ariel area would be deferred.
U.S. State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher said this week that the American position is very clear: the barrier is problematic because it defines permanent boundaries, confiscates Palestinian territories and makes daily life more difficult for Palestinian civilians.
Israeli Defense Ministry officials said in response that Israel would only construct the "fingernails" - the outer rims of the "finger" - and might connect them "at some point in the future."
Netzah Mashiah, who heads the Defense Ministry's Seam Area Authority, told Haaretz on Sunday that plans call for the completion of the security barrier east of Ariel, Immanuel and Kedumim by May 2005.
|
|
 
|
|
|
|
Click on the blue headline to read a Talkback comment and respond to it. Click on the  icon to send a private email to the talkback writer. The icon appears only if the writer has decided to be contacted. If no popup window appears, please make sure your popup blocker allows israelinsider.com.
|
|
| |
|
|
