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Israeli wall suffocates Palestinian towns
upi via Bloomberg no url | 8/12/3 | LYNDA WAFI AND SAUD ABU RAMADAN

Posted on 08/12/2003 2:33:59 PM PDT by NativeNewYorker

Raed Zeid, a 6-year-old Palestinian boy from the village of Toura al-Sharqeya,

west of the northern West Bank town of Jenin, used to carry his schoolbag and

walk to the adjacent village of Nazlet Zeid, where his elementary school is

located. He ignored Israeli bulldozers and workers building the security fence

between the West Bank and Israel.

Every day, he crossed on foot vast areas of land that were being leveled and

razed by the Israeli army, and passed Israeli army machinery. He was

indifferent to what was happening.

One cool, sunny morning, Raed left his home as usual and started his morning

walk to school, but when he returned, there was a big fence separating him from

the solitary house that was built in line with the Jewish settlement of Shakid.

Despite U.S. opposition to the security wall, Israel has continued to build it

between the West Bank and Gaza. The wall is not situated on the 1967 borders

between the occupied territories and Israel; it has been constructed where a

vast area of Palestinian property has been confiscated and villages isolated

from the Palestinian community.

That day, Raed did not know what to do. He searched for a gap in the fence, but

there was not even enough space for a cat to cross. He grabbed the fence with

his small hands and shook it as hard as he could, but still it was there and

his home unreachable.

Nael Zeid, Raed's father, said that discovering the fence left a psychological

impact on his child. He has lost concentration in class, and fear crosses his

face when he sees armored vehicles and Israeli troops working on the fence.

Although the roots of the family's suffering go back to 1982 when the Shakid

settlement was built near their house, Raed's father said the situation has

become worse with the arrival of the security fence.

“If you looked from an upper area down at the fence, it would look like a huge

snake several kilometers long that suffocates the area of Jenin from the east,

west and north,” Nael Zeid said.

Jenin residents say that in addition to restricting the villagers' movements,

the fence has caused damage to the already-weak water and electricity

infrastructure.

Israel believes that building such a barrier will prevent Palestinian militants

from infiltrating into Israel to carry out armed and suicide-bombing attacks.

“The wall had closed the main road that links us with the outside world,” Nael

Zaed said. “We remained isolated in a small area within the green line between

Israel and the West Bank and the settlement of Shakid."

Palestinians believe the security fence was primarily built to confiscate more

land, blackmail Palestinians, and establish factors on the ground that would

make it difficult in the future to reach a permanent peaceful solution to the

conflict.

“I don't think that Raed could ever forget what happened to him that day, he

was so relieved to find a gate through which he could get back home. But he was

so scared that he cried and he was frightened of going out again and not being

able to return home,” Nael Zeid said.

He said the Israeli army constructed the fence overnight in advance of the

construction of a wall that is supposed to protect Jewish settlers from

neighboring Palestinians.

The fence, however, wasn't constructed around the settlements or according to

the so-called green line that separates Israel and the Palestinian Authority,

but was built about 5 kilometers (3 miles) east of the line.

Tarek Qabha, mayor of Toura village, said the trouble started when the Israeli

army began establishing the Jewish settlement of Shakid in 1982, and extensive

lands were confiscated from the western area of the village to construct it.

“They established this settlement on the villagers' lands, and now this

separation wall absorbs a big part of what was left, and they say that they

have to take this land in order to feel safer,” he said.

Qabha said that many families have lost their main source of income with the

confiscation of lands where they used to plant olives and vegetables.

“The wall was not established for security reasons -- this is just a

premeditated plan to take as much land as they possibly can,” Qabha said.

“This wall is 3 kilometers long and 80 meters wide, and snakes through the

village as if to suffocate us. The Israeli army had declared this whole area a

closed military zone. How can anyone live if there is no source for livelihood

and nowhere to go?"

The builders of the wall have bulldozed hundreds of square kilometers of

Palestinian-owned lands in Toura, uprooting more than 300 olive trees years,

and destroying fields of tobacco. Many local farmers no longer have access to

their cultivated lands after the Israeli army declared the area a closed

military zone.

“The wall has not only affected farmers, it disconnected the social relations

between families in the scattered villages inside and outside the wall,” said

Qabaha.

He said the wall in Berlin was 4 meters high, “but the wall in the Palestinian

territories is 8 meters high.

“The Berlin wall was removed and the Germans enjoy freedom. We hope that this

wall would be removed one day and the Palestinians would live free in their

independent Palestinian state,” said the mayor.



TOPICS: Foreign Affairs
KEYWORDS: religionofwhining
Propaganda dressed as news. Note the authors.
1 posted on 08/12/2003 2:33:59 PM PDT by NativeNewYorker
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To: NativeNewYorker
What are you talking about? Don't you know that little schoolboys traverse "vast areas of land" every morning?

Why I remember when I was a schoolboy, I used to walk from New York City to Baltimore every morning at 7. Sometimes I was late because I would stop for breakfast in Philadelphia.

2 posted on 08/12/2003 2:37:31 PM PDT by wideawake (God bless our brave soldiers and their Commander in Chief)
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To: NativeNewYorker
That's some primitive propaganda...hard to believe the palies and leftists buy this drivel.
3 posted on 08/12/2003 2:42:32 PM PDT by Petronski (I'm not always cranky.)
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To: NativeNewYorker
Well, you know maybe if the Palestinians would stop murdering there neighbors every chance they get something like this wouldn't be necessary...

Oh and as for the facile comparison to the Berlin Wall, that was to keep people *IN*, though I've met many a leftie that denies that. There is little wrong with a fence to keep people *OUT*.

Further, if conditions are so bad for the arabs in the West Bank, perhaps the other arab states could use all the money and land they took from their local Jewish communities when they ethnically cleansed them to give these arabs a homeland somewhere else throughout the vast expanse of the arab world.
4 posted on 08/12/2003 2:43:10 PM PDT by swilhelm73
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To: wideawake
I walked the 59 miles to and from school, in the snow, uphill both ways.
5 posted on 08/12/2003 2:43:11 PM PDT by My2Cents ("I'm the party pooper..." -- Arnold in "Kindergarten Cop.")
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To: Petronski
Just another example of the 'nonpartisan' hard left media at work.
6 posted on 08/12/2003 2:43:51 PM PDT by swilhelm73
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To: swilhelm73
I am becoming increasingly convinced that journalists live in a "bearded Spock" universe, where all values are inverted.
7 posted on 08/12/2003 2:45:40 PM PDT by NativeNewYorker (Freepin' Jew Boy)
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To: My2Cents
I walked the 59 miles to and from school, in the snow, uphill both ways.

So did my husband--except he was barefoot, walking in daily blizzards alternating with ice storms, tornados and hurricanes.

8 posted on 08/12/2003 2:46:21 PM PDT by Catspaw
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To: Petronski
see 7 above
9 posted on 08/12/2003 2:46:21 PM PDT by NativeNewYorker (Freepin' Jew Boy)
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To: Catspaw
...in my case, it was uphill both ways.
10 posted on 08/12/2003 2:46:52 PM PDT by NativeNewYorker (Freepin' Jew Boy)
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To: swilhelm73
...give these arabs a homeland somewhere else throughout the vast expanse of the arab world.

Yeah, like maybe their intended homeland, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

11 posted on 08/12/2003 2:47:11 PM PDT by Petronski (I'm not always cranky.)
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To: wideawake
Like yeah! Somehow this boy is continuing to cross that wall. How? I know! Pogo stick!
12 posted on 08/12/2003 2:52:11 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck
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To: NativeNewYorker
Although the roots of the family's suffering go back to 1982 when the Shakid settlement was built near their house

There you have it. The mere existence of Jews causes these ignorant towel heads to 'suffer'. I hope they suffer a lot worse.

We need a wall like this around the entire Muslim world.

-ccm

13 posted on 08/12/2003 2:59:51 PM PDT by ccmay
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To: NativeNewYorker
Sweet. Haven't seen that episode in a while...
14 posted on 08/12/2003 3:05:11 PM PDT by ProtectorOfTwo (Nope...nothing comes to mind...)
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To: ccmay
We need a wall like this around the entire Muslim world.

And a roof! And a really, really solid floor.

15 posted on 08/12/2003 3:11:29 PM PDT by Cachelot (~ In waters near you ~)
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To: NativeNewYorker
This pathetic tripe reveals a scene the authors would rather have kept hidden, namely, that the Israelis and Palestinians led normal, sympathetic, interactive lives side by side. They were part of the same economy and often the same culture. They were friends and co-workers. The little boy went to school on the Israeli side of the street, so to speak.

What wrecked it? Politics. Militant politics fueled by radical Wahhabism. Trust the propagandists to blame anyone and everyone except their own horrendous attacks.

16 posted on 08/12/2003 3:13:00 PM PDT by T'wit
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To: NativeNewYorker
Note the authors.

Blatant propaganda. Yep, and I don't exactly trust anyone with 'Ramadan' in their name.

17 posted on 08/12/2003 3:15:59 PM PDT by Mr. Mojo
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To: ProtectorOfTwo

I used this episode to teach my 8 year old about how different social/moral/value systems operate.

18 posted on 08/12/2003 3:16:53 PM PDT by NativeNewYorker (Freepin' Jew Boy)
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To: NativeNewYorker; Catspaw
"...in my case, it was uphill both ways."

You had it easy. My family was so poor we only had barb wire to wrap around our feet to keep from slipping on the ice.
19 posted on 08/12/2003 3:17:36 PM PDT by DugwayDuke
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To: ccmay
There you have it. The mere existence of Jews causes these ignorant towel heads to 'suffer'.

Well, imagine how the KKK would feel if a "n-gger" were elected mayor of Atlanta? Imagine the hurt pride, the offense of having a lower life form just walking around doing things that only the Master Race should be allowed to do! Of course they're suffering! Those dhimmis don't know their place at all!

Isn't it amazing how our local lefties have embraced people with the mentality of the Klan? And they don't even see it.

20 posted on 08/12/2003 3:19:06 PM PDT by A_perfect_lady (Let them eat cake.)
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To: Petronski
hard to believe the palies and leftists buy this drivel

And unfortunately some right here on FR as do well. ...Although most have been given the boot, now confined to spewing their drivel on other boards.

21 posted on 08/12/2003 3:20:36 PM PDT by Mr. Mojo
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To: Mr. Mojo
as do = do as
22 posted on 08/12/2003 3:21:15 PM PDT by Mr. Mojo
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To: NativeNewYorker
We hope that this wall would be removed one day and the Palestinians would live free in their independent Palestinian state,

After all the Jews have been driven into the sea.

23 posted on 08/12/2003 3:22:24 PM PDT by Alouette (Every democratic politician should live next door to a pimp, so he can have someone to look up to.)
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To: NativeNewYorker
Suffocates = keeps savage killers out.

Once you know the new definitions of old reliable words, it is all clear and quite simple, really.

24 posted on 08/12/2003 3:33:28 PM PDT by Publius6961 (Californians are as dumm as a sack of rocks)
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To: NativeNewYorker
Given what they teach children in pali schools, kill yourself, murder your neighbour etc etc... if his parents loved him they would be glad he couldn't go.

"Their can be no peace until the Arabs love their children more than they hate the jews" (Isreali leader, forget which one, any Freepers know?)
25 posted on 08/12/2003 3:54:44 PM PDT by Cdnexpat (Mr Bush, please don't speak to any member of a Liberal government on any topic.)
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To: NativeNewYorker
I am becoming increasingly convinced that journalists live in a "bearded Spock" universe, where all values are inverted.

Sometimes I wish we lived in the bearded spock universe. They had a VERY short way with people that defied them and attempted to subvert them; like sterilization of planets full of lefty retards.

26 posted on 08/12/2003 4:08:45 PM PDT by Centurion2000 (We are crushing our enemies, seeing him driven before us and hearing the lamentations of the liberal)
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To: Cdnexpat
"We will have peace with the Arabs when they love their children more than they hate us." -- Golda Meir
27 posted on 08/12/2003 4:09:16 PM PDT by NativeNewYorker (Freepin' Jew Boy)
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To: Cdnexpat
"Their can be no peace until the Arabs love their children more than they hate the jews" (Isreali leader, forget which one, any Freepers know?)

Golda Mieir

28 posted on 08/12/2003 4:10:17 PM PDT by Centurion2000 (We are crushing our enemies, seeing him driven before us and hearing the lamentations of the liberal)
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To: NativeNewYorker
He has lost concentration in class,

wellll.....if it was Suicide Bombing 101, I guess he just might screw it up and only kill himself.

honestly....there were SO MANY lines in this bogus article that require comments...like:

the fence left a psychological impact on his child.

and bombing a busload of Israeli citizens or flying huge jetliners into US buildings makes these people dance in the street? Oh, dear....I'm so worried about this fence's "psychological impact" on the little ones. (not!)

29 posted on 08/12/2003 4:16:42 PM PDT by ZinGirl
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To: NativeNewYorker
the fence has caused damage to the already-weak water and electricity infrastructure.

Waaaaahhhhh Waaaaaahhhhh.

Cause and effect are pushed down one slot with this view. i.e. the fence is the cause and the damage is the effect.

Well what about moving back one step and seeing the fence as a effect? Can the Palestinians even think of a possible effect? Can they even spell the word terrorism?

30 posted on 08/12/2003 5:53:21 PM PDT by Tom Bombadil
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To: NativeNewYorker
If I had time I'd relate the story about the darling little Israeli boy whose walk to school didn't increase in length but who now walks alone, instead of with his grandmother, because she was killed by a Paletinian a--hole who detonated a bomb on her bus.
31 posted on 08/12/2003 8:44:14 PM PDT by tom h
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To: NativeNewYorker
Raed's father, said that discovering the fence left a psychological impact on his child. He has lost concentration in class, and fear crosses his face when he sees armored vehicles and Israeli troops working on the fence.

Luckily for Raed (and his father), he doesn't have to ride a bus:

but, then, there really is no psychological trauma like having a wall pop out of the ground overnight (/sarcasm)

32 posted on 08/12/2003 9:26:25 PM PDT by Optimist (I think I'm beginning to see a pattern here.)
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To: NativeNewYorker; Centurion2000
Thanks
33 posted on 08/13/2003 2:43:14 AM PDT by Cdnexpat (Mr Bush, please don't speak to any member of a Liberal government on any topic.)
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To: NativeNewYorker
Shut them all in. We won't hear no more stories about innocents being blown up in homocide bombings in Israeli shopping malls.
34 posted on 08/13/2003 2:47:12 AM PDT by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives On In My Heart Forever)
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