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News :: Israel / Palestine |
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B'Tselem Warns Of Gross Rights Violations If Security Fence Is Built |
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by Haaretz, via gehrig
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26 Sep 2002
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B'Tselem report on the economic and human rights impact of the security fence now being constructed along the Green Line, as reported in Ha'aretz. |
Haaretz, 9/27/02
B'Tselem warns of gross rights violations if security fence is built
By Mazal Mualem, Ha'aretz Correspondent
There will be dire consequences for tens of thousands of Palestinians if the building of a fence along the Green Line continues, according to a report by the human rights watchdog B'Tselem.
The establishment of a fence that envelopes West Bank settlements would separate Palestinians living beyond the fence from their land, the report said.
B'Tselem asserts that any fence that juts several kilometers into the West Bank violates the human rights of Palestinians and makes Israel responsible for their welfare and lives.
Residents of villages along the Green Line near Tul Karm told reporters touring the area Thursday that a fence set up there would significantly impact their ability to earn a living.
According to a resident of the village of Hirbat Jaber, IDF troops recently cut down a number of his olive trees along the Green Line.
"We have no one to turn to," said Obe'id Kosfli. "I have 11 children to support, and my lands are on the Israeli side. How will I be able to get to them?"
The B'Tselem report addresses a number of human rights violations, such as freedom of movement, that could result from the establishment of the fence.
For example, the report says, land confiscated from Palestinians for the purpose of building the fence will be made inaccessible to them and they will not be able to farm it.
This is the case regarding the villages of al-Ras and Kofer Tzur, home to over 1,600 persons and where more than 50% of the farm lands are expected to fall on the western, or Israeli side, of the fence.
Residents from the two villages petitioned the High Court of Justice, arguing that they will not be able to till their land if the fence is built. In response to the petition, the State Attorney's Office said that Israel expects to reach an agreement with landowners so they can use their land.
However, B'Tselem says that it is still unclear how Palestinian farmers will be able to cross the fence and work their lands. The organization expressed deep reservations that the freedom of movement of the farmers will go unhindered.
B'Tselem says that another problem facing residents along the Green Line will be limitations for bringing their products to market in the West Bank. As a result, the fence will ultimately turn many of the villages into isolated cantons. This also will represent a violation of international human rights conventions safeguarding the rights of individuals to employment and a livelihood, in addition to cultural and social rights.
Israel, B'Tselem says, is a signatory of these international conventions.
In addition, the report criticizes administrative orders issuing the confiscation of thousands of dunams of property in a process that seriously violates the rights of the property owner.
Thousands of such orders issued by the IDF and the Defense Ministry are valid until 2005, according to the report, and Israel retains the authority to extend them repeatedly.
The human rights group says that holding land and resources indefinitely and the enormous investment that Israel is making in the building of an obstacle increases the likelihood that the land appropriation is not temporary but a massive confiscation of property.
The military needs of Israel cannot justify the gross violation of human rights, and does not relieve it of its obligations to international justice and legislation, the report states.
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See also:
http://www.haaretzdaily.com
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