Adonis Diaries

Israel’s Apartheid Wall: Facts & Figures

It has been 8 years since the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued an advisory opinion holding that the Apartheid Wall, or Separation Barrier, that runs inside the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, violates Israel’s obligations under international law.

While the ICJ has ordered that Israel cease construction of the Wall and dismantle the sections already built, the Israeli government has continued construction with impunity.

Below are some facts and figures on the Wall (Barrier) from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Siham Nuseibeh Posted by admin on Jul. 11, 2012

Below are some facts and figures on the Wall (Barrier) from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

• The Barrier consists of concrete walls, fences, ditches, razor wire, groomed sand paths, an electronic monitoring system, patrol roads, and a buffer zone.
• The Barrier’s total length (constructed and projected) is approximately 708 km, more than twice the length of the 1949 Armistice (‘Green’) Line, which separates Israel from the occupied West Bank.
• Approximately 62.1% of the Barrier is complete, a further 8% is under construction and 29.9% is planned but not yet constructed.
• When completed, some 85%, of the route will run inside the West Bank, rather than along the Green Line, isolating some 9.4% of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
• 71 of the 150 Israeli settlements in the West Bank and over 85% of the total settler population are located on the ‘Israeli’ side of the Barrier’s route.
• Palestinians with West Bank ID cards who are granted special permits can only enter East Jerusalem through 4 of the 14 Barrier checkpoints around the city.
• Around 7,500 Palestinians who reside in areas between the Green Line and the Barrier (Seam Zone), excluding East Jerusalem, require special permits to continue living in their own homes; another 23,000 will be isolated if the Barrier is completed as planned.
• There are about 150 Palestinian communities which have part of their land isolated by the Barrier and must obtain ‘visitors’ permits or perform ‘prior coordination’ to access this area.
• Access to agricultural land through the Barrier is channeled through 80 gates. The majority of these gates only open during the six weeks olive harvest season and usually only for a limited period during the day.
• During the 2011 olive harvest, about 42% of applications submitted for permits to access areas behind the Barrier were rejected citing ‘security reasons’ or lack of ‘connection to the land.’
• Despite the presence of the Barrier, Israeli sources estimate that some 15,000 Palestinians without the required permits smuggle themselves from the West Bank to look for employment in Israel every day in 2011 (Israeli Government Special Committee).
• The UN Register of Damage (UNRoD) has to date collected over 26,000 claims for material damage caused by the construction of the Barrier in the northern West Bank.