100%

Scanned image of the page. Keyboard directions: use + to zoom in, - to zoom out, arrow keys to pan inside the viewer.

Page Options

Share

Something wrong?

Something wrong with this page? Report problem.

Rights / Permissions

The University of Michigan Library provides access to these materials for educational and research purposes. These materials may be under copyright. If you decide to use any of these materials, you are responsible for making your own legal assessment and securing any necessary permission. If you have questions about the collection, please contact the Bentley Historical Library at bentley.ref@umich.edu

February 20, 2004 - Image 25

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Detroit Jewish News, 2004-02-20

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

under gunfire from the neighboring
Palestinian village of Beit Jala in the
early months of the intifada, -Shlomi
Mizrahi said he welcomes the fence.
Two bullets punctured windows in his
apartment, which faces Beit Jala in the
valley below.
Defense officials responsible for carry-
ing out government orders to build the
barrier say they're doing their best to
defuse a difficult situation in Jerusalem.
"We tried to stay within Jerusalem ter-
ritory in order not to get into a political
situation," said retired Col. Dani Tirzah,
who is involved in planning the fence
route. "We need to do our best to assure
freedom of movement."
Israel Kimche, who is spearheading
research into the Jerusalem portion of
the fence for the Jerusalem Institute for
Israel Studies, said military-style plan-
ning is not enough when it comes to a
city as complex as Jerusalem.
"They study every kilometer very care-
fully, but they are military men,"
Kimche said. "They are looking at it
from a security point of view, but they
are not experts on humanitarian issues
or matters of traffic, employment or
infrastructure.
"The situation in Jerusalem is more
complicated than in any other place," he
said. "There will be daily problems. It
will make daily life much more diffi-

cult."
Tens of thousands of Palestinians will
be disconnected from the center of their
lives in Jerusalem, Kimche said.
Some Palestinians who live in towns
and villages abutting Jerusalem carry
Israeli identity cards. That might mean
that thousands currently living in the
West Bank — including many who
moved there because of the housing
crunch in eastern Jerusalem — may try
to move back to the city for fear of
being locked out.
The three main hospitals servicing
Palestinians in Jerusalem and the sur-
rounding areas will be much more diffi-
cult to access for those living on the
West Bank side of the fence. Students
who live in Jerusalem but study in West
Bank universities also will have trouble
reaching their campuses.
Planned changes in the fence route,
prompted in part by growing interna-
tional opposition to how the fence will
affect Palestinians' lives, reportedly will
aim to create contiguity between
Palestinian villages outside Jerusalem.

Difficult Challenge

"Urban environments pose a very diffi-
cult challenge for the construction of the
fence," said Dore Gold, an adviser to
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

- Gold noted that among plans for
adjustments in the Jerusalem area are
special permits so some Palestinians can
pass more easily into the city and the
establishment of medical clinics so
Palestinians can get certain services like
dialysis without delay.
The Defense Ministry currently is
deciding where the entry points into
Jerusalem will be for those living on the
West Bank side of the city.
Rami Nasrallah, director of the
International Peace and Cooperation
Center, a Palestinian think tank in east-
ern Jerusalem, calls the fence the "Israeli
fragmentation wall in Jerusalem."
Nasrallah says the mentality of separa-
tion is problematic for the two sides.
"It's bad for the city, for the whole
concept of an open city for both sides
and a capital of two states. It's killing the
whole concept, and I'm shocked to see
this trend within the Israeli side of
building walls," he said.
"I'm afraid of this mentality of denial,
of 'Let's build a wall, we don't want to
see or interact with Arabs,"' he said.
"With this, you cannot make peace."
Most Palestinians living in Jerusalem
tend to dismiss the security argument
for the fence, saying Israel's best bet for
security is not to cut off Palestinians
from their livelihoods. They ask why the
current network of checkpoints is not
enough.
"My life is in Jerusalem," said
Muhamed AWissat, 29, standing on a
hill in a Palestinian suburb of Jerusalem
known as a-Sheikh S'ad. With AWissat
is a group of fellow unemployed friends
who used to work in Israel.
Because of pending fence construc-
tion, the road to their suburb was _
destroyed and vehicles no longer can
come in or out. For now, the only way
to reach neighboring villages is by foot.
What for AWissat once was a journey
of a few minutes to Jerusalem now could
take as long as an hour, because the only
way to reach the city legally is via the
West Bank Jewish city of Ma'aleh
Adumim, east of Jerusalem.
Yehezkel Lein, a researcher for
B'Tselem, an Israeli human rights organ-
ization, looked out on an Abu Dis
courtyard full of concrete slabs lying
horizontally on the ground. They soon
will be hoisted into place by construc-
tion workers on the edge of Abu Dis
and added to the growing wall.
`-`When you try to impose virtual reali-
ty into a concrete reality, what you get is
a human disaster," he said. ❑



located in the
Fleischman ResidenceMumberg Plaza

For those with memory inipainnents and/or dementia-
related dis-orders.

This self-contained, residential, dementia-specific unit
is able to provide residents with nursing around the
clock, social, recreational and spiritual activities.

Nutritional Kosher Meals & Snacks
Resident Care Attendants
Medication Administration
- Assistance with Activities of Daily Living
Vital Sign Monitoring
-rivate Spa Bathing
n eelchair Escort

• Safe and Secure Environment
• Direction and Redirection
• Chapel, Religious Activities
• Activities, Programs & Celebrations
aundry, Housekeeping
auty/Barher Shop
Gift Shop
osh N
oom

for an application and/or tour:

Stefanie Palant, MSW

Brown Memory Care Pavilion Program Manager

Fleischman Residence/Blumberg Plaza
6710 W Maple • West Bloomfield

Eugene & Marcia Applebaum Jewish Community Campus

2 48-661-2 999

w w w jhas.org

a service of

For more "On The Fence," log on to
www.detroiOwishnews.com

figil JEWISH HOME k AGING SERVICES

2/20
2004

25

Back to Top

© 2024 Regents of the University of Michigan