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Amr
said Sharon’s "insistence to continue building the
wall...will complicate matters and dampen the positive
atmosphere," created by the roadmap
|
GAZA
CITY, July 30 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Israeli Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon’s adamancy to go ahead with the construction
of the controversial separation wall, cutting through the West Bank,
drew fire Wednesday, July 30, from Palestinian officials, groups and
citizens.
With
U.S. President George Bush on his side, Sharon insisted the so-called
"security fence will continue
to be built."
Palestinian
Minister of State for Security Affairs Mohamed Dahlan stressed this
"shows Israel is not thinking seriously about implementing the
roadmap" backed by the United States and international community.
"We
refuse this wall, because it has no security purpose. This wall will
only increase hatred between the Palestinian and Israeli sides because
it is a racist, separation wall," Dahlan told Agence
France-Presse (AFP).
Palestinians
view the barrier as an attempt by Israel to set in stone the borders
of any future Palestinian independent state and have been angered by
its route which cuts into their territory.
Sharon's
government argues that it is merely intended to prevent infiltrations
by Palestinians planning anti-Israeli attacks and has no political
motivation.
"If
the wall is about security, why does it absorb Palestinian
villages?" Dahlan asked. "Who will look after for these
people?"
The
minister said that the Palestinians were not completely opposed to the
building of the barrier.
"If
they want to build a wall let them build it on the 1967 border."
Palestinian
Information Minister Nabil Amr, for his part, termed as
"disappointing" Sharon's declaration that the wall
construction would continue, reported the Israeli Haaretz newspaper.
He
said the Israeli premier's "insistence to continue building the
wall...will complicate matters and dampen the positive
atmosphere," that followed the presentation to the Palestinians
and Israelis of the U.S.-backed roadmap.
Palestinian
President Yasser Arafat, who spoke to reporters before Bush and Sharon
completed their talks in Washington, said the wall was a new
"Berlin Wall" being built to divide Palestinian areas into ghettos
in the West Bank.
Sharon’s
statements also irked Palestinian factions, which warned that the
continued construction of the wall could endanger the hudna,
or truce on attacks against Israelis.
Abbas
Threatened
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Palestinian farmer Hassan Kharouf leans against a concrete wall erected on his land by Israel
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After
Sharon's statements, Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmud Abbas' position
has been weakened rather than strengthened, analysts said.
Abbas
managed to persuade Bush to make a rare public criticism of Israel
last Friday when the U.S. president said that Israeli-built wall is a
"problem"
undermining confidence in the peace process.
Allies
of Abbas, who was expected to return home later Wednesday, had warned
that the outcome of his overseas trip - which also featured talks
European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana and the leaders of
Jordan, Egypt and Morocco - would be crucial to his hopes of political
survival.
Hani
al-Masri, a columnist with the Palestinian Al-Ayyam
daily, said that the challenges facing Abbas had now increased after
his trip.
"After
the Abbas meeting there was a sense that things were moving ahead
since there was a concrete position from the Americans on the wall and
on the settlements," Masri said.
"But
it all evaporated after the Bush-Sharon meeting and it will be
difficult to expect future U.S. pressure on Sharon because the
Americans will be busy with the elections."
Biased
Bush
Palestinians
accused the American president of predictable bias towards Israel by
failing to pressure Sharon into halting the wall construction and
releasing thousands of Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails.
"When
Abbas visits him, Bush makes him look good and stands by the
Palestinian side on the issue of the security wall but it's all for
show," civil servant Khalil Hassan from the West Bank said.
"When
Bush meets with Sharon he changes his position completely because he
doesn't want to exert real pressure on Israel. That's why things can't
improve."
Hiam
Hamdan, a twenty-year-old university student, said: "America
strongly supports Israel and lets Sharon behave the way he
wants."
She
expected that "the truce won't last long because Israel is acting
dangerously on the ground, by building the security wall for
instance."
Palestinians
in Gaza City expressed similar skepticism about Bush's commitment to
implementing the roadmap.
"Bush's
declarations are not new and America has always stood by Israel as if
it were its own daughter. It will not let her down to support
Palestinians," said Ahmed Awad, a 36-year-old grocer.
Apart
from Sharon's statement on the barrier, Bush also failed to wring
commitments from the Israeli premier on a halt to settlement activity
or troop withdrawals from more Palestinian towns.
