Newsletter 06 Nov. 2012

Dear colleague,

This newsletter is devoted primarily to our newest report, Arrested Development. Ten years after construction began on Israel’s Separation Barrier, the report examines its long term implications for the Palestinians on whose land it was built. All along the route, which is located almost entirely inside the West Bank, the barrier isolates communities from each other and separates farmers from their fields, threatening the viability of communities and preventing economic development. 

We are also distributing three visual representations of the main messages of the report. An interactive map illustrates four case studies; a short video puts a human face to the barrier's impact in one of these places, the town of Bir Nabala; and an animated short gives a lighthearted treatment to a serious subject: the devastating impact of the permit regime for farmers with land across the barrier.  We hope you will share these materials widely, fostering much needed conversation about the damage wrought by the barrier.

Sincerely,

Attorney Yael Stein, Research Director

A decade after construction began on the Separation Barrier, the harm to adjacent Palestinian communities is clear. With some two-thirds of the barrier completed, it has crippled agriculture along its route. By isolating communities from each other and from their land, the barrier has eroded their ability to survive and prevents any sustainable development. This reality violates the state's commitment to the High Court that the barrier would not seriously harm these communities.

We've prepared an interactive version to make the key messages of the report accessible to a wider audience. An interactive map presents four case studies; a short video puts a human face to the barrier's impact in one of these places, the town of Bir Nabala; and an animated short gives a lighthearted treatment to a serious subject: the devastating impact of the permit regime for farmers with land across the barrier.