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Un report criticizes israeli fence

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   http://www.boston.com/news/world/articles/2003/11/12/un_report_criticizes_israeli_fence/

http://www.boston.com/news/world/articles/2003/11/12/un_report_criticizes_israeli_fence/

UN report criticizes Israeli fence
Barrier expected to greatly `disrupt' lives in West Bank
By Ravi Nessman, Associated Press, 11/12/2003

JERUSALEM -- Israel's security barrier eventually will carve off 14 percent of the West Bank, trap 274,000 Palestinians in tiny enclaves, and block 400,000 others from their fields, jobs, schools, and hospitals, according to a United Nations report released yesterday.

The string of walls, razor wire, ditches, and fences has enflamed already high tensions between Palestinians and Israelis. The United States has criticized the barrier's planned route deep into the West Bank, saying it could harm efforts to set up a Palestinian state.

Israel has said the barrier is meant to keep out Palestinian militants responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Israelis in the past three years of violence. But Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel said yesterday the barrier also will prevent tens of thousands of Palestinians from moving into Israel, as officials say has occurred in recent years.

Palestinians say the snaking barricade is an Israeli attempt to seize West Bank land that Palestinians claim for a future state. About 90 miles of the barrier has been completed around the northern West Bank, mainly following the unmarked boundary with Israel.

The unbuilt southern section, almost 430 miles long, will cut up to 14 miles into the West Bank, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or UNOCHA. This seems aimed at incorporating some Jewish settlements into the "Israeli" side.

The barrier will affect nearly one-third of the Palestinians living in the West Bank, the report said.

"People's lives will be seriously disrupted," said David Shearer, head of the local UNOCHA office. The barrier will be "disastrous" for farmers, who will find it difficult to get to their fields and bring their produce to market, he said.

"People will find it impossible to stay in these areas, and they will choose to move out," Shearer added.

Israeli officials say the barrier has reduced the number of infiltrations in areas where it has been completed. The barrier has gates, intended to give farmers access to fields, Deputy Defense Minister Zeev Boim told Israel Radio. But human rights groups say the gates often are closed.

Palestinian officials prepared for a vote of confidence today on the new Cabinet of Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei. US and Israeli officials have expressed reservations that the Cabinet leaves Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat with a firm grip over security forces. Even so, Sharon has said he is ready to meet with Qurei. Palestinian Cabinet secretary Hassan Abu Libdeh said US officials told him they would also reserve judgment. "They said they would judge the government by its performance, by its actions," he said.

Palestinian officials say they have been pressing militant groups to end attacks on Israel so that talks can resume on the "road map" peace plan, which calls for a Palestinian state by 2005. Palestinians need an "open-ended cease-fire . . . that must be reciprocated by the Israelis," the Palestinian foreign minister, Nabil Shaath, said.

Israel is not ruling out a cease-fire but it must be backed by action to crack down on terrorist organizations, said a senior Israeli official, who requested anonymity. Qurei has said he will not use force against the militants.

Palestinian officials said they remained concerned about scores of unauthorized Israeli settlement outposts throughout the West Bank. The plan calls for a complete Israeli settlement freeze, which Sharon has refused to order.

Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz of Israel said defense officials would continue to evaluate the outposts, along with Israel's security needs. "In the past year, a number of outposts were dismantled," most of them in agreement with settlers, Mofaz told Israeli Army Radio yesterday after meeting with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld in Washington.

Peace Now, an Israeli monitoring group, said the number of outposts has dropped slightly since the road map was unveiled in June, to 101 or 102. But Peace Now specialist Dror Etkes said the population and infrastructure have grown.

© Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.



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