Israël

[Two years after International Court of Justice rules Israeli Wall illegal, Qaliqilia residents still face deplorable conditions.tit]



(Qalqilya) Mustafa Sabre 10 July 06



Yesterday marked the second anniversary of a historic decision by the International Court of Justice in The Hague. On 9 July 2004, citing human rights law and the Fourth Geneva Convention, among a host of other international laws, the ICJ ruled that Israel?s construction of the 25-foot concrete Wall, or ?security barrier? as it is often termed by Israelis, built inside West Bank 1967 borders is illegal and in direct contravention to international law.



The Wall, which many Palestinians and international supporters term the Apartheid Wall for its racist implications, has not only robbed hundreds of Palestinian families of their land, homes, and livelihoods, but has also made life in the West Bank close to intolerable. Construction, and the land confiscation, has not stopped even for a moment.



In the northwestern West Bank are Qaliqilia City, encircled by the Wall, accessed by a gate system and cut off from its agricultural lands and surrounding villages.

Some 300,000 Palestinians regularly suffer at the gates of racial and social injustice, as local human rights organizations say.



Qalqilia City Council member, Sadik Al Aaraj, told PNN Monday that adults need residence permits to live on the land that they own. He stated, ?The Israeli authorities have made us strangers in our own land. We are the owners of the land, yet they ask us to obtain prior authorization in order to live on it. Any resident without a residence permit is forced to leave.?



Al Aaraj continued. ?Israel is one of the only countries in the world that does not recognize the legitimacy of resolutions put forth by international institutions such as the International Court of Justice. As Palestinians, we have tried to prevent the construction of the Wall. And our children are being affected by Israeli solider actions, and are suffering from nightmares and other psychological problems. The city of Qalqilia alone has turned into a large prison in which 45,000 citizens are forced to move within a very narrow and confined area.?



Affects of the Wall



One of the gravest affects that the continued construction of the Wall will have on residents of the Qalqilia District is access to healthcare. Already, a combination of the Wall and the Israeli checkpoints regularly prevents Palestinian ambulance crews from accessing the sick in need of care, also in direct contravention to the Fourth Geneva Convention.



It is estimated that some 93,200 Palestinians will be left living in between the Israeli Wall and the 1967 Green Line after construction is completed. It is likely that these residents will have little to no access to even basic healthcare. Particular concerns are arising over the ability of pregnant women living in the affected area to receive medical services, and the ability of children under five to receive their required vaccinations. Of the 26 medical clinics in the region, it is estimated that approximately 52 percent of medical practitioners will be delayed or unable to reach work due to the Wall.



Continued construction of the Wall, coupled with increased military occupation in the area, has left life a continual challenge to every Qalqilia resident. Villages in the area have turned into isolated islands. One resident told PNN that Palestinians living on such islands must pass through military installations in order to receive medical care, yet the hours that checkpoints and gates may be open are unpredictable. Facing such serious obstacles, nearly 80 percent of Qalqilia residents may soon find themselves without access to even the most basic healthcare.



A story from the Wall



Fifty-five year old Abdalhi from a southern Qalqilia village told PNN Monday his woes resulting from the Wall. He noted that he and his family have suffered from the construction as the Wall divides the family land in half. Abdalhi and his son Darwish, who lives on the other side of the Wall, have been left no choice but to communicate via mobile phone in order to coordinate the irrigation and maintenance of crops on the family farm.



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