RAMALLAH, July 9, 2013 (WAFA) - The Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) Tuesday issued a report on the Israeli Annexation Wall and settlements’ status nine years after the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which condemned Israel's construction of the Wall on July 9th, 2004.

The report started off by noting the illegitimacy of the Wall pointing out that “it is not being built on Israel’s 1967 pre-occupation border (the “Green Line”), but inside the Occupied State Of Palestine.”

The PLO’s report highlighted the consequences of Israel’s Wall which led to the annexing of Palestinian agriculture and water resources, restricting freedom of movement, separating Palestinians from schools, health facilities and jobs, and depriving thousands of them from having a life.

According to the report, “approximately 47.6% of the Occupied West Bank will be annexed by Israel, thereby ensuring Israel’s illegal settlements not only to remain, but expand.”

If the Wall is to be completed, it will be approximately 711 km in length (more than twice the length of the Green Line); trapping about 249,00 Palestinians, it said.

The report highlighted that fact that the Wall cuts through OPT in order to sustain and reinforce the vast majority of Israel’s illegal settlements throughout the West Bank.

It said that Israel continues to construct a huge network of settler highways connecting its illegal settlements to each other and to Israel, while imposes severe movement and access restrictions on the 2.5 million Palestinians who live in the West Bank, in order to further assist the expansion of Israeli settlements.

The PLO’s reported stated Israeli claims that the construction of the wall is solely based on the pretext of “security concerns”; as it allegedly limits the Palestinian resistance and protects Israeli citizens, including illegal settlers.

On the other hand, the report explained the Palestinian position regarding the construction of the wall, which is seen as “yet another attempt to grab Palestinian land in order to implement Israel’s settlement enterprise.”

It said, the Wall not only takes Palestinian land, but also natural resources. It consolidates the process of annexing Palestinian land.

The report refuted claims that the wall has decreased the amount of resistance by arguing that “the decrease in attacks is due to a Palestinian decision to resist with non-violent means.”

It also highlighted the Wall’s illegitimacy and necessity to be dismantled and that Israel’s right to protect its citizens should remain outside the borders of the OPT.  

ICJ found the Wall to be illegal, and demanded for it to be demolished and those affected to be compensated, the PLO said.

ICJ demanded, according to the report, that Israel is obligated to repair all damage caused by the construction of the Wall.

The report later presented figures and statistics from January 2004 until July 2013 showing Israeli violations in the OPT within that period of time.

It ended the report by telling real life stories of Palestinian communities which were affected by the construction of the wall.

It said, “In January 2002, Um al-Asafir community, located west of the town of Beit Sahour, woke up one day to the sound of bulldozers digging up the land; a new wall, Israel’s huge concrete annexation Wall was installed in their backyard.”

“Today, the Um al-Asafir community, which has frequently disrupted access to health, social and economic services, is living in limbo. They are forced to choose between providing for their families by moving and working in the Bethlehem district or remaining in their birthplace.”

It also reported on Watta Community near Bethlehem, whose children and their parents have to walk two kilometers from their homes to the checkpoint.

“They have no access to private cars and the journey into the Bethlehem district takes about 30 minutes as opposed to the three minutes it took before the construction of the Wall.”

M.H.