Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Panel Criticizes Lack of Debate Surrounding West Bank Barrier

Members of an Israeli human rights organization debated Israel’s construction of a separation barrier in the West Bank in a presentation Wednesday.

Jessica Montell, executive director of Jerusalem-based B’Tselem, told nearly 50 students that the construction of the barricade is undermining Israeli security.

“Despite enormous financial and humanitarian costs for a barrier to protect us, it hasn’t,” Montel said, referring to a recent suicide bombing that killed 19 in Jerusalem.

She said Israel should focus on alternatives like improving existing security measures and functioning at checkpoints. She quoted a comptroller’s report that stated that existing checkpoints were ineffective because most suicide bombers enter Israel without bypassing them. As a last resort, she said, Israel should construct the barrier along the Green Line or on its own land.

She also called on Americans concerned about Israel’s policy to strengthen their opposition to the barricade.

“We think the American administration is the only hope for rerouting the barrier – it won’t come from Israeli opposition, the U.N. or the E.U.,” Montell said. “Even if you don’t care about Palestinian human rights, anyone who cares about the future of Israel should act as if they do.”

The first stage of construction threatens to harm more than 200,000 Palestinians by isolating their communities, cutting off access to schools and medical facilities, and detaching farmers from their land, explained Montell. She said that if the Israeli government decides to continue building the barrier, it should seek to minimize the damage to Palestinians.

“It’s rare that [the barrier] has been rerouted to address Palestinian humanitarian needs,” she said. “It’s not too late to stop it because most of it hasn’t been constructed yet.”

Approximately 145 kilometers have been completed at a cost of about $2.5 million per kilometer according to B’Tselem’s estimates. The barrier is expected to stretch nearly 150 kilometers when completed.

Montell criticized the Israeli government for both the barrier and its policy on settlements. But nothing, she said, was an excuse for indiscriminate violence.

“There’s no justification for bombing buses and cafes – not a wall, nothing compares to a suicide bombing,” Montell said. “But at the same time is it necessary, is it legal and is it right [to build the barrier]?”

This statement drew protests from some in the audience who exclaimed that Israel was killing people in a slow, drawn out process and destroying their economic livelihood.

Gadi Kenny, a 43-year-old Israeli pursuing his Master’s degree in Communication, Culture and Technology, criticized the presentation for failing to address the Palestinian responsibility to end violence.

“I feel it’s a tragedy that Israel didn’t do such a fence for many years,” he said during the discussion session. “We’ve never tried a wall – I hope it would bring the number of casualties in Israel down. I don’t have a better solution, but am I content? No.”

Co-presenter Yehezkel Lein, a researcher with B’Tselem, asked how Israel could increase its security when it is decreasing the quality of life and creating more hardships for Palestinians. He also criticized the government for sacrificing security for political goals.

“There are too many cases where security is not playing a major role,” he said, “but rather political considerations.”

Montell criticized the lack of debate within Israel about the barrier and the refusal by the government to provide information about it. Yet polls show widespread support for its construction, with 80 percent of Israelis supporting the wall in B’Tselem’s latest survey.

“By design or by neglect there’s a lack of public debate in Israel,” she said. “The government is concealing most information so that the average Israeli doesn’t know much about the human rights violations, the route of the barrier, and, most concerning from our point of view, most don’t care.”

No official map of the planed construction routes has been released by the Israeli government.

Israel’s construction of the barrier violates international human rights law and the laws governing the duties of an occupying power, Montell added.

“The B’Tselem discussion was informative and stirring,” Dan Lieberman, a participant in the forum, said. “People need more forums to express themselves in a louder and honest voice. The lack of international debate to construction of this Israel barrier is beyond comprehension.”

The discussion was the second in the Georgetown Human Rights Forum sponsored by the Georgetown Institute for the Study of International Migration, the Walsh School of Foreign Service and the Advocacy Project.

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