Sunday, July 19, 2009

Construction on the Wall Slows to a Halt. Is this Victory?

According to the Jerusalem post, over the last 15 months very little work has been done on the apartheid wall. It remains just a little over half completed and that doesn't look set to change.

What I'm wondering is this: is this a victory of Palestinian nonviolent resistance? Are all of those demonstration and law suits paying off? Or is there a different reason for the slow down?

Thoughts, internet?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Always been puzzled by your take on the wall - given it began after Palestinian gunmen were firing into Gilo, killing civilians etc, and after the PA refused point blank to stop them, and an Israeli opperation to eliminate them stalled when they hijacked the church of the nativity, the wall is both non-violent, and has saved hundreds of Israeli lives. Attacks in areas where it has been built have dropped over 90% - that is, suicide bombings of kindergardens, busses etc have dropped - yet you oppose it? I have always wondered what would happen if a suicide bomber slipped into Israel through an incomplete section near Bil'in after you had been having a demo there - you would be complicit in the shedding of innocent blood! Given that it saves lives, shouldnt CPT be volunteering to help build it? or is Palestinian inconvenience more important than Israeli lives?
To quote from the article you referenced, "Oxfam did acknowledge steps the government has taken to try to ease the obstacles posed by the fence. To help farmers access their land, 70 agricultural gates were created in the barrier, though farmers still had a hard time getting to their fields, Oxfam said.

The government has also spent NIS 2 billion to construct an alternative system of roads, underpasses and tunnels to facilitate Palestinian travel around the barrier."