GAZA CITY, 17 May 2005 — Israel will begin work on a wall that will create a corridor linking the largest Jewish settlement in the West Bank to Jerusalem next month, weeks before it starts withdrawing from the Gaza Strip. The construction will in effect expand Jerusalem’s boundaries and cut off Palestinians from the city they seek as a future capital.
By starting work on the section around Maale Adumim just weeks before Israel begins pulling its troops and settlers out of the Gaza Strip, the government is hoping to minimize US and EU opposition, the Maariv newspaper said. Under wider plans, not only Maale Adumim, but also Gush Etzion, a settlement bloc home to around 12,000 Israelis near Bethlehem, would be incorporated onto the Israeli side of the barrier whose final route was approved by the Cabinet in February, Maariv reported.
The barrier around Maale Adumim will also take in other smaller nearby settlements and land earmarked for the construction of new Jewish neighborhoods.
Israel has insisted that the wall’s only purpose is to prevent infiltrations by would-be Palestinian attackers. The Palestinians, however, point to its route, which often juts into the occupied territory, as proof that its real purpose is to predetermine the borders of their promised future state.
Meanwhile, Israel yesterday banned former Malaysian Premier Mahathir Mohamad, whose comments have in the past infuriated Jews, from entering Jerusalem while visiting the West Bank.
Mahathir was delayed for an hour at the Allenby crossing from Jordan into the West Bank where Israeli officials banned him from going to Jerusalem or the city of Jenin in the West Bank, Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei said.
“I want to say to the entire world that this is the political mind of the occupation,” Qorei told a joint news conference with Mahathir in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
“This is an important man, an international man and the Israelis prevent him from going to Jerusalem, they prevent him from going to Jenin,” he added, expressing his apologies.
The Israeli authorities, which continue to control the entrance into towns throughout most of the West Bank as well as controlling the border into Jordan, said they had received no advance warning of Mahathir’s arrival.
“We received no request to facilitate the visit. We weren’t aware he was coming, so we didn’t deal with it,” said a Foreign Ministry spokesman.
— Additional input from agencies
