| Submit your comments on this article | |
| Israel-Palestine | |
| Sharon says heâs ready to move West Bank barrier | |
| 2004-07-02 | |
| JERUSALEM - Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said he is ready to move the West Bank security barrier a little closer to Israel, wherever possible, in order to avoid trapping Palestinians in fenced-in enclaves. Sharonâs remarks were reported on the Web site of the Haaretz daily late on Thursday, a day after the Supreme Court told the government it must pay more attention to the possible hardships the barrier can cause to Palestinians. In response to the court ruling, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz met with army planners Thursday and ordered them to review most of the barrier, which is to run 680 kilometers (425 miles), security officials said. They said the 25 percent of the barrier already built and judicially unchallenged would not be affected. Later Thursday, Mofaz informed Sharon and Justice Minister Yosef Lapid at a meeting that he had ordered a review. Sharon said that when precise plans are ready, the full Cabinet will vote on them, officials said. The Haaretz Web site quoted Sharon as saying he is willing to accept changes. âWe need to simplify things and not create ... closed-off Palestinian enclaves since we have not succeeded in creating convenient conditions for moving through the fence,â Sharon said. Sharon said that in areas not considered problematic, construction should begin immediately. âIn areas where we cannot compromise on security, donât make concessions,â Sharon was quoted as saying. âBut in places where we can, we need to do as little damage as possible to the Palestiniansâ way of life, and we can move the fence a little closer to the Green Line.â
| |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #6 Brett> Nowhere in the Arab/Muslim world do Arabs have more rights than in Israel. If by "Arabs" you include the people in West Bank and Gaza, then Kuwait would give Israel a run for its money where rights are concerned, I think. Armistice lines are NOT borders. Neither is this fence, as drawn. If it's sufficiently redrawn and "simplified" to swerve far far less, it might become a viable one. |
| Posted by: Aris Katsaris 2004-07-02 2:17:06 PM |
| #5 Aris, Aris, Aris. The 'Green line' is nothing more than the Armistice line. Armistice lines are NOT borders. Borders need to be negotiated between the parties. After the 1967 war, the Occupier went from Jordan to Israel. Jordan, and the other Arabs, were unwilling to discuss anything other than a full Israeli withdrawl which Israel was unwilling to do because that would, in effect, reward Arab aggression. There never was a 'Palestine' nation, only a sub-province of Syria, a province the Turkish empire. Nowhere in the Arab/Muslim world do Arabs have more rights than in Israel. Actually, come to think of it, Israel is the only nation in that whole that allows freedom and rights to Arabs. I hope Iraq turns into the second nation where Arabs have rights. |
| Posted by: Brett_the_Quarkian 2004-07-02 12:38:46 PM |
| #4 Not sure why you are saying "There ya go". Because since it's quite obvious that it's the orchards that are on the Israeli side of the wall, no one is going to be dense enough to extend the wall outward to include the Paleo "owners" of the orchard to keep them from being cut off. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-07-02 12:28:46 PM |
| #3 er. to indicate what direction hes moving the fence. and of course the court only said that the fence should avoid tangible hardship to Palestinians, not that it should follow the green line as a border. No one seriously thinks the eventual border will follow the green line - the most dovish position is that Israel would compensate the Pals somewhere else, hectare for hectare. |
| Posted by: Liberalhawk 2004-07-02 10:44:57 AM |
| #2 Not sure why you are saying "There ya go". Yes, a wall that'd actually serve as a border instead of as enclavement would be good and I'd have supported it. But "A little closer" to the Green Line is not nearly good enough when the current plan does such vast detours that it has no connection whatsoever to the Green Line. I don't even know why Sharon keeps on mentioning the Green Line. |
| Posted by: Aris Katsaris 2004-07-02 10:41:43 AM |
| #1 Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said he is ready to move the West Bank security barrier a little closer to Israel, wherever possible, in order to avoid trapping Palestinians in fenced-in enclaves. There ya go, Aris. If the wall is going to separate Paleos from their land and cause "hardship" that is unacceptable to Israeli courts, then the logical choice is to put everything in question on the outside. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-07-02 1:41:43 AM |