The West Bank barrier: the humanitarian impact on communities

[Tom Joad]

From the International Committee of the Red Cross:

Since its completion in February 2003, the West Bank Barrier has deprived thousands of Palestinians of adequate access to emergency services as well as to traditional sources of income. The story of Palestinian farmer, Mustafa Amarneh, illustrates the problems faced by the affected communities.

Mustafa Amarneh clutches his rosary as he remembers one of the most difficult periods of his life.

"Smoke, smoke!" he heard the farmers scream. He walked to a neighbouring hill to witness his olive trees consumed by fire and silently cried as he watched his arid lands swallowed up.

"For me, it was worse than the war, because all I could do was watch."

Although his fields are just a few hundred metres away from his village, Akkaba, Mustafa Amarneh couldn't run out with a hose or just call the fire brigade to extinguish the flames: he was prevented by Israel's West Bank Barrier which stands between the village and most of its land.

The local mayor called Israel's Civil Administration to get the green light for the fire trucks to pass through the gates that stretch along the barrier but by the time permission had been obtained three hours had passed and only shrivelled tree stumps remained.

About 70% of Akkaba lands were destroyed during three successive summer fires in 2005. The grass had grown high after the winter rains, and farmers couldn't access the area to clear weeds that needed just a spark to ignite.

See the whole article. and the photos.
http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/israel-stories-060406?opendocument

Why did Israel build a barrier between this man and his land? why is this so typical? Is this "barrier" for security... or is it a means of annexing land... as some Israeli government officials have acknowledged.