jerusalem | Israel’s separation barrier in and around Jerusalem is meant to ensure a Jewish majority in the disputed city, a Cabinet minister acknowledged this week, contradicting government claims that the divider is solely a temporary security measure.
Israel’s Cabinet this week approved final details of the 40-mile Jerusalem barrier, which is halfway built and will eventually cut off some 55,000 Arab residents in four neighborhoods from their city, while including some 30,000 Jewish West Bank settlers on the Jerusalem side.
Palestinian Foreign Minister Nasser Al Kidwa urged more street protests of the barrier, saying Palestinians should organize for a “higher level of daily confrontations against the wall.”
Haim Ramon, the Israeli Cabinet minister for Jerusalem, told Israel Radio the barrier is not only making the city safer by buffering against suicide bombers, but “also makes it more Jewish.” During four years of Israeli-Palestinian fighting, Jerusalem was hit hardest by Palestinian suicide bombers from the West Bank.
Ramon said Israel made a mistake in expanding the Jerusalem boundaries in 1967 and suggested the barrier can shift the balance by cutting off four Arab neighborhoods of the city.
“The government did well in determining the fence route without including Shuafat and Qalandia in Jerusalem. I don’t think anybody is sorry about this.”
But Zeev Boim, Israel’s deputy defense minister, denied the route of the barrier was dictated by demographic considerations.
“The fence was put up because of security needs, to stop terrorism,” he told Israel Army Radio.
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the Jerusalem barrier is inflicting a “catastrophe” on the Palestinians. “The whole idea is to get as many Palestinians outside Jerusalem, and get as many Israelis (as possible) inside,” Erekat said. “This is determining the fate of Jerusalem before we begin negotiations.”