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Separation Fence Traps 12,000 Palestinians

By Arnon Regular
Haaretz
Posted on Thursday July 31, 2003

Israel has finished building 147 kilometers of the section of the separation fence in the northern West Bank and the Jerusalem area during the first phase of construction, according to a report compiled by follow-up teams comprised of representatives from the European Union, United States, Norway, United Nations and World Bank.

The report, released last week, also found that the second phase of construction has begun in the Gilboa and the Beit She’an valley, both in the Jordan Valley region.

The teams’ monthly reports form the basis for the formulation of foreign countries’ stance on the fence and their policies on sending aid to Palestinians harmed by it.

The report on the first phase of construction warns of the changes that the Defense Ministry instituted in the path of the fence in the Jenin area, including a 12-km. intrusion into Palestinian territory to include the settlements of Homesh and Mevo Dotan on the Israeli side of the fence.

The primary focus of the report is the initial Palestinian reaction to the fence. About 12,000 Palestinians in 15 villages will be imprisoned between the fence and the Green Line, and many of them will be cut off from social services, schools and their own agricultural lands – in addition to the lands confiscated from them so that the fence could be built in the first place, the report found. The report paid special attention to the influence that the fence could have on the rural area of Jenin, which was hit particularly hard in the intifada. The fence affects 36 villages in the Jenin area, some of whose residents will no longer be able to work in Israel as they used to do before the intifada.

The residents of five villages bordering the fence, including Taibeh and Jalama, have relatives on the Israeli side, village leaders told the people who compiled the report. Hundreds of Israeli citizens lived in these villages before the construction of the fence, but many have since moved to the other side of the Green Line.

Seventy Israeli citizens lived in Jalama before the fence began going up, but village leaders estimated that 50 of them moved to villages on the Israeli side of the fence and left a lot of property behind, apparently fearing that Israel would confiscate their identity cards if they stayed. But the village leaders didn’t discuss the even broader phenomenon of women who have moved from Palestinian-controlled territory to Israel.

The report also described an entrepreneurial side effect: Business is booming along the breaks in the fence where people will be able to move between Israel and the West Bank, at crossing points such as Jalama, Taibeh and the Etzion Bloc area.

Despite the economic situation, 15 stores opened up in Jalama in 2003 on top of another 15 in 2002; no stores were opened in 2001. Store owners said they expect to get a lot of business from Israeli Arabs.