The Annexation Wall and Its Associated Regime

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

The Annexation Wall and Its Associated Regime AL-HAQ The Annexation Wall and its Associated Regime The Wall Campaign: Ten Years Too Long Second Edition 2012 The Annexation Wall and its Associated Regime The Wall Campaign: Ten Years Too Long Second Edition 2012 Photo by: Fadi Arouri AL-Haq - 54 Main Street 2nd & 3rd Fl. - Opp. Latin Patriarchate Saint Andrew’s Evangelical Church - (Protestant Hall) P.O.Box: 1413 - Ramallah - West Bank - Palestine Tel: + 970 (0)2 2954646/7/9 Fax: + 970 (0) 2 2954903 Acknowledgements AL-HAQ Al-Haq would like to thank the United Nations Office for Author: Lisa Monaghan and Grazia Careccia the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the Editor: Grazia Careccia Contributors: Gabrielle Chaizy and Dylan Cantwell Smith United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Pictures: Fadi Arouri © Anne Paq © Grazia Careccia © Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and the United Thomas Palmer © Design: Hamza Dado Nations Register of Damage (UNRoD) for providing ISBN: 978-9950-327-31-3 Publisher: Al-Haq - © All Rights Reserved maps and statistics. Special Thanks Shawan Jabarin, Gareth Gleed and John Reynolds. For the second edition special thanks to: Paul Maloney and Neill ÓCíoráin. Any quotation of up to 500 words may be used without permission provided that full attribution is given. Longer quotations or entire chapters or sections of this study may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, or stored on any retrieval system of any nature, without the express written permission of Al-Haq. AL-HAQ 2012 Photo by: Fadi Arouri List of contents: Glossary ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 7 1. The Annexation Wall .................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 11 2. Wall Facts and Figures ............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 11 3. Key Dates in the Construction of the Wall .................................................................................................................................................................. 12 4. Security: A Pretence for Annexation? ........................................................................................................................................................................... 14 4.1 East Jerusalem ............................................................................................................................................................................................................ 17 4.2 Settlements .................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 19 4.3 Water Resources ....................................................................................................................................................................................................... 26 5. The Wall’s Associated Regime ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 28 5.1 Gates ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 29 5.2 Permit System ............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 30 5.3 ID Cards ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 32 5.4 Property Destruction .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 33 6. The Annexation Wall and International Law ........................................................................................................................................................... 34 6.1 International Humanitarian Law .................................................................................................................................................................. 35 6.1.1 The Prohibition of Annexation of Occupied Territory .................................................................................................. 35 6.1.2 Destruction and Confiscation of Private Property ............................................................................................................. 36 6.1.3 Principle of Proportionality ............................................................................................................................................................... 38 6.1.4 Prohibition of Collective Punishment ..................................................................................................................................... 39 6.1.5 Forcible Transfer .................................................................................................................................................................................. 40 6.1.6 Respect for the Human Person ....................................................................................................................................................... 41 6.2 International Human Rights Law .................................................................................................................................................................. 42 6.2.1 Freedom of Movement .................................................................................................................................................................. 42 6.2.2 Right to Work, Food, Health and Education, Family Life and Worship ................................................................ 43 6.2.3 The Right to Self-Determination ................................................................................................................................................. 43 6.3 Public International Law ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 44 6.3.1 The Prohibition of Annexation of Territory by Force ...................................................................................................... 44 7. The International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion ............................................................................................................................................ 45 7.1 Findings ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 46 7.2 Israel’s Legal Obligations under the International Court of Justice Findings .......................................................................... 48 7.3 Third-State Party Responsibility .......................................................................................................................................................................... 51 7.3.1 Litigating the Wall before Foreign Courts: an Avenue for Justice ....................................................................... 52 7.3.1.1 A Legal Challenge to UK Foreign Policy toward Israel .................................................................................. 52 7.3.1.2 The Case Against Riwal: Corporate Complicity in International Crimes .............................................. 53 Glossary Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT): Composed of two discontiguous regions, the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, the OPT refers to the territory occupied by Israel since the 1967 Six-Day War. Division of the West Bank under the 1995 Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip (also known as the Oslo II Accord): Area A (17 per cent): Under full Palestinian civil and security control. However, since 2002, Israel has retained responsibility for overall security in all areas of the West Bank, and does not abdicate full authority over Area A. Area B (24 per cent): Under full Palestinian civil control and joint Israeli-Palestinian security control. Area C (59 per cent): Under full Israeli control over security, planning and construction. Dunum: A dunum (or dönüm, dunam) is a unit of land area enclosing 1,000 square metres. Land area in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Israel has been measured in dunums since the era of the British Mandate of Palestine. Annexation Wall: Also referred to as the Separation Barrier/Barrier/Security Fence/Apartheid Wall/ Wall. The International Court of Justice decided to use the term
Recommended publications
  • Building a Protective Wall Around Terrorists
    Fordham International Law Journal Volume 28, Issue 3 2004 Article 10 Building a Protective Wall Around Terrorists – How the International Court of Justice’s Ruling in The Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory Made the World Safer for Terrorists and More Dangerous for Member States of the United Nations Rebecca Kahan∗ ∗ Copyright c 2004 by the authors. Fordham International Law Journal is produced by The Berke- ley Electronic Press (bepress). http://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/ilj Building a Protective Wall Around Terrorists – How the International Court of Justice’s Ruling in The Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory Made the World Safer for Terrorists and More Dangerous for Member States of the United Nations Rebecca Kahan Abstract Part I of this Note will examine two recent actions in the war against international terror- ism: the Israeli plan to build a separation barrier between Israel and the OPT, and the invasion of Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom. Part II will discuss two important deviations by the ICJ from past interpretation of international law that were announced in the advisory proceed- ings against Israel: a new elucidation by the ICJ regarding principles of judicial propriety and a new analysis of the abilities of States to act in self-defense under Article 51 of the U.N. Charter. Part III will address the impact on the international community’s fight against terrorism, and the role of the ICJ as an international entity. BUILDING A PROTECTIVE WALL AROUND TERRORISTS HOW THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE'S RULING IN THE LEGAL CONSEQUENCES OF THE CONSTRUCTION OF A WALL IN THE OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY MADE THE WORLD SAFER FOR TERRORISTS AND MORE DANGEROUS FOR MEMBER STATES OF THE UNITED NATIONS Rebecca Kahan* INTRODUCTION The nature of the threats posed to States has changed since the adoption of the U.N.
    [Show full text]
  • 2 Israeli Attacks on Human Rights Organizations and Activists Palestinian Centre for Human Rights 2019 3
    2 Israeli Attacks on Human Rights Organizations and Activists Palestinian Centre for Human Rights 2019 3 Contents Introduction 8 Part I 11 Isolation of the Victim :Shrinking Space for NGOs in the oPt by the Israeli occupation 1. The belligerent occupation attempts to criminalize the victim: Smear 13 campaigns against human rights defenders 2 .Sanctions and the Restrictions on Freedom of Movement 29 3 .Attempts to Defund Human Rights Organizations 33 4 .Threatening human rights defenders 35 Part II 38 International Standards for Human Rights Defenders 1. International Conventions 39 2 .States ’Obligations towards Human Rights Defenders 44 Conclusion and Recommendations 46 4 Israeli Attacks on Human Rights Organizations and Activists Palestinian Centre for Human Rights 2019 5 Preface From the moment we took it upon ourselves to defend human rights and civilians in times of war, we were conscious to both the dignity in our mission and the dangers it bears on our lives and security as human rights defenders. Nonetheless, human dignity and advocating for the rights of victims were at the heart of our mission, our life goal and purpose. We were armed with the international law’s rules and mechanisms, which is the fruit of many peoples’ experiences and struggles to identify justice from injustice, in our mission to protect humans and their rights to live a dignified life. Decades passed and we fought via every legal route we had available tirelessly, without a single moment of hesitation in the face of the Israeli occupation’s restrictions and threats. As the occu- pation continued without rest to put hurdles in our path, and enjoyed the illusion of depriving us from the means and mechanisms to defend the defeated and oppressed, our will never waned and we were never persuaded to drift from the path we chose to tread, because it is our deep belief that we have no choice but to stand tall and defend, as Palestinian people, our existence, dignity and right to self-determination.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 2017 Annual Report 2017 Had the Dubious Distinction Of
    . 2017 Annual Report 2017 had the dubious distinction of marking the 50th anniversary of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. After half a century, during which Israel’s policies have created profound changes that indicate long-term intentions, it is clear that this reality cannot be viewed as temporary. In 2017, B'Tselem continued to document and publicize human rights violations, while exposing the injustice, violence and dispossession at the very core of the occupation regime, challenging its legitimacy in Israel and abroad, and helping to expedite its end. 1 Table of Contents 2017 in Numbers 3 Executive Director's Note 5 Marking the 50th year of the Occupation 6 Photography Exhibit 6 Media Surrounding the 50th Anniversary 8 Reports Published in 2017 8 Getting Off Scot-Free 8 Made in Israel: Exploiting Palestinian Land for Treatment of Israeli Waste 9 Unprotected: Detention of Palestinian Teenagers in East Jerusalem 9 Fatalities 10 Trigger-Happy Responses to Clashes, Stone-throwing Incidents, Demonstrations or Evading Arrest 10 A Shoot-to-Kill Approach in Cases Defined as Assault 10 Security Forces Violence Against Palestinians 11 The Gaza Strip – A Decade of Siege 11 Separating Families 12 Gaza Executions 12 Prisoners and Detainees 13 Hunger Strike 13 Minor detainees 13 Communities Facing Demolitions and Displacement in Area C 14 Communities Under Imminent Threat of Transfer 14 An Increasingly Coercive Environment 15 Demolition Data 15 Demolitions in East Jerusalem 16 Batan al-Hawa -
    [Show full text]
  • Humanityvolume I, No
    HumanityVolume I, No. 4, October 2019 F O ALESTINE P IN EARS Y TS H IG ORTY R F UMAN The Barricaded Country H ING ELEBRATING D C 1979-2019 EN F E D Election of Shawan Jabarin, General Director In This Issue of Al-Haq, as Secretary-General of FIDH for the 2nd Time Shawan Jabarin, General Director of Al-Haq Shawan Jabarin, General Director 3— Election of Shawan Jabarin, General Director of Al-Haq, as he International Secretary-General of FIDH for the 2nd Time Federation for Human Rights T th 4— Al-Haq concludes an orientation course for Internationals in (FIDH) convened its 40 the OPT annual international Congress which took 6— Al-Haq Calls on the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) to place from October Release Taybeh Wines for Local Sale 21-25, 2019 in Taipei, Taiwan, and 9— Al-Haq Participates in Fifth Session of the IGWG on Trans brought together national Corporations and other Business Enterprises on 450 representatives the Revised Draft of the Legally Binding Instrument on of local, regional and international Business and Human Rights civil society, 13— Over 280 ESCR-Net Members Call for Stronger Treaty to experts, diplomats, representatives Regulate Corporate Activities of international 15— Al-Haq’s Engagement with the UN Committee on Economic, institutions, Taiwanese Social and Cultural Rights for Israel’s Fourth Periodic Review political authorities, and AL-HAQ EXTENDS FIDH financial partners. 17— Joint Statement: Continued Delay of the UN Database Following the secret ITS GRATITUDE ballot elections of the by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Unfounded federation’s President and Unacceptable TO ALL ORGANIZATIONS and members, Al-Haq’s 20— Update: Administrative Court of Cologne rules in favor of General Director Shawan Jabarin was re-elected as FIDH Secretary-General THAT VOTED IN for the second time, with 84 of the 102 organizations participating voting in supporters of BDS Movement FAVOUR AND favour.
    [Show full text]
  • BHRC Calls on Israel to Protect and Safeguard the Rights of Palestinian Human Rights Defenders
    20 May 2016 STATEMENT BHRC calls on Israel to protect and safeguard the rights of Palestinian human rights defenders The Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales (“BHRC”) expresses its serious concern at ongoing Israeli threats against and attacks on Palestinian human rights defenders, and attempts to curtail their work. We note in particular that: A Palestinian volunteer for Israeli NGO B’Tselem, Imad Abu Shamsiyeh, who filmed widely circulated footage of an Israeli soldier executing a wounded Palestinian in Hebron in the occupied West Bank on 24 March 2016, has also received death threats for his role in filming and publicising the execution. Abu Shamsiyeh has been physically attacked by Israeli settlers on a number of occasions in recent years, and his home has been attacked with stones since 24 March, making the threats all the more concerning. Another B’Tselem volunteer, Raed Abu a-Rmeileh, was assaulted in Hebron by Israeli settlers on 4 May 2016 when he tried to film them harassing Palestinian children. He was knocked to the ground, requiring hospital treatment for a head injury. Israeli soldiers at the scene failed to intervene to stop the attack or to arrest his assailants. In contrast, Palestinian human rights defenders continue to be arrested and charged by Israel for exercising their human right to peaceful protest against Israeli violations of international law in the West Bank. They include prominent human rights defenders Issa Amro, founder of the Hebron branch of the International Solidarity Movement, and Farid al-Atrash, who were arrested on 29 and 26 February 2016 respectively, following a peaceful demonstration in Hebron calling for the lifting of Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales (BHRC), 53-54 Doughty Street, London WC1N 2LS Chair: Kirsty Brimelow QC │ Vice-Chairs: Blinne Ní Ghrálaigh & Schona Jolly [email protected] | www.barhumanrights.org.uk +44 (0) 20 7404 1313 ext.
    [Show full text]
  • NGO MONITOR: SHRINKING SPACE Defaming Human Rights Organizations That Criticize the Israeli Occupation
    NGO MONITOR: SHRINKING SPACE Defaming human rights organizations that criticize the Israeli occupation A report by the Policy Working Group September 2018 PWG Policy Working Group Table of content 3 Foreword 6 Executive Summary 11 Chapter 1: Ideological bias and political ties Background Partisan people One-sided focus, intrinsic bias Connections with the Israeli government and state authorities 19 Chapter 2: Lack of financial transparency 23 Chapter 3: Faulty research and questionable ethics Baseless claims and factual inaccuracies Dismissing and distorting thorough research 28 Chapter 4: Foul tactics Framing the occupation as an internal Israeli affair Branding NGOs as an existential threat in order to deflect criticism of the occupation Using BDS to defame Palestinian and Israeli NGOs Accusing Palestinian NGOs of “terrorist affiliations” 40 Notes 2 Foreword NGO Monitor is an organization that was founded in 2002 under the auspices of the conservative think tank JCPA (the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) and has been an independent entity since 2007. Its declared goal is to promote “transparency and accountability of NGOs claiming human rights agendas, primarily in the context of the Arab-Israeli conflict”.1 This is a disingenuous description. In fact, years of experience show that NGO Monitor’s overarching objective is to defend and sustain government policies that help uphold Israel’s occupation of, and control over, the Palestinian territories. Israeli civil society and human rights organizations consistently refrained from engaging with NGO Monitor. Experience taught that responding to its claims would be interpreted in bad faith, provide ammunition for further attacks and force the targeted organizations to divert scarce resources away from their core mission – promoting human rights and democracy.
    [Show full text]
  • Annexing Energy
    AL-HAQ Annexing Energy Exploiting and Preventing the Development Of Oil and Gas in the Occupied Palestinian Territory AL-HAQ August 2015 AL-Haq - 54 Main Street 2nd & 3rd Fl. - Opp. Latin Patriarchate Saint Andrew’s Evangelical Church - (Protestant Hall) ACKNOWLEDGMENTS P.O.Box: 1413 - Ramallah - West Bank - Palestine Tel: + 972 (0) 2 2954646/7/9 Fax: + 972 (0) 2 2954903 www.alhaq.org The author would like to thank: Wesam Ahmad, Nada Kiswanson van Hooydonk, Marya Farah, Amanda Elfstrom, Patrick Burke BL, Mariamalia Rodríguez, Shawan Jabarin, Hamza Dado, Maha Abdallah, Authors Dr. Susan Power Mona Sabella, Rula Majrouh, Valentina Azarov, Rachel Borrell, Elisabeth Koek, Eilís Ní Chaithnía, Veerle Shouten, ISBN 978-9950-327-48-1 Auke Wibaut, John Veron, Ingvild Skogvold, Cover Photo By IDF Spokesperson Unit (Israel Defense Forces) [CC BY-SA 3.0 United Nations Conference on Trade and Development team: (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons Randa Jamal, Mahmoud Elkhafif and Mutasim Elagraa. Publisher Al-Haq - © All Rights Reserved and all the Al-Haq team Without their assistance and support this report would not be possible. Any quotation of up to 500 words may be used without permission provided that full attribution is given. Longer quotations or entire chapters or sections of this study may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, or stored on any retrieval system of any nature, without the express written permission of Al-Haq. AL-HAQ August 2015 Dedicated to the Memory of Yousra Mahmoud Husdein TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS Glossary ......................................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • A Threshold Crossed Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution WATCH
    HUMAN RIGHTS A Threshold Crossed Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution WATCH A Threshold Crossed Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution Copyright © 2021 Human Rights Watch All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America ISBN: 978-1-62313-900-1 Cover design by Rafael Jimenez Human Rights Watch defends the rights of people worldwide. We scrupulously investigate abuses, expose the facts widely, and pressure those with power to respect rights and secure justice. Human Rights Watch is an independent, international organization that works as part of a vibrant movement to uphold human dignity and advance the cause of human rights for all. Human Rights Watch is an international organization with staff in more than 40 countries, and offices in Amsterdam, Beirut, Berlin, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Goma, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Nairobi, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto, Tunis, Washington DC, and Zurich. For more information, please visit our website: http://www.hrw.org APRIL 2021 ISBN: 978-1-62313-900-1 A Threshold Crossed Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution Map .................................................................................................................................. i Summary ......................................................................................................................... 2 Definitions of Apartheid and Persecution .................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • The Wall's Impact in the Occupied West Bank: a Bayesian Approach To
    econometrics Article The Wall’s Impact in the Occupied West Bank: A Bayesian Approach to Poverty Dynamics Using Repeated Cross-Sections Tareq Sadeq 1,2 and Michel Lubrano 2* ID 1 Department of Economics, Birzeit University, Birzeit, West Bank 627, Palestine; [email protected] 2 Aix-Marseille Univ., CNRS, EHESS, Centrale Marseille, AMSE, Ilot Bernard Dubois, 5 Bd Maurice Bourdet, 13001 Marseille, France * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +33-413-55-25-57 Received: 3 December 2017; Accepted: 22 May 2018; Published: 30 May 2018 Abstract: In 2002, the Israeli government decided to build a wall inside the occupied West Bank. The wall had a marked effect on the access to land and water resources as well as to the Israeli labour market. It is difficult to include the effect of the wall in an econometric model explaining poverty dynamics as the wall was built in the richer region of the West Bank. So a diff-in-diff strategy is needed. Using a Bayesian approach, we treat our two-period repeated cross-section data set as an incomplete data problem, explaining the income-to-needs ratio as a function of time invariant exogenous variables. This allows us to provide inference results on poverty dynamics. We then build a conditional regression model including a wall variable and state dependence to see how the wall modified the initial results on poverty dynamics. We find that the wall has increased the probability of poverty persistence by 58 percentage points and the probability of poverty entry by 18 percentage points. Keywords: Bayesian inference; pseudo panels; data augmentation; walls; poverty dynamics JEL Classification: C11; C33; I32; O15 1.
    [Show full text]
  • Monitoring and Documentation Unit
    MONITORING AND DOCUMENTATION DEPARTMENT APRIL – JUNE 2007 FIELD REPORT Introduction This is the second quarterly field report of 2007 by Al-Haq's Monitoring and Documentation Department, covering the period from April to June 2007. Al-Haq’s field reports cover human rights abuses committed by the Israeli Occupying Power and the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Each field report highlights a particularly important and disturbing trend observed by the Monitoring and Documentation Department during the reporting period. 8 June 2007 marked forty years of Israel’s continued occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, together constituting the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), despite binding United Nations Security Council resolutions ordering it to withdraw. Consequently, Al-Haq's monitoring and documentation activities have traditionally been directed towards the human rights violations committed by Israel, the Occupying Power. However, following the creation of the PNA in 1994, Al-Haq also monitors and documents violations perpetrated by the PNA. The field reports are based on first-hand information gathered by Al-Haq's Monitoring and Documentation Department, covering a broad range of human rights abuses, including comprehensive coverage of killings, house demolitions and curfews. Al-Haq’s specially trained fieldworkers visit sites of alleged human rights violations, draw maps, draft reports and take sworn witness statements (affidavits) from victims and eyewitnesses. The affidavits excerpted or referenced in field reports are available on Al-Haq’s web site www.alhaq.org, as samples of those gathered during the reporting period. The field reports do not currently cover the Gaza Strip.
    [Show full text]
  • Delegation of the European Union
    European Union UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL 17th Session (30 May - 17 June 2011) ______ Item 7 ______ Statement by H.E. Ambassador András DÉKÁNY Permanent Representative of Hungary to the United Nations Office in Geneva on behalf of the European Union Geneva, 14 June 2011 Check against delivery Geneva, 14 June 2011 UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL 17th Session (30 May – 17 June 2011) EU Statement General Debate Item 7 Mr President, I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union. The fundamental changes across the Arab world have made the need for progress on the Middle East Peace Process all the more urgent. Recent events have indeed shown the necessity of heeding the legitimate aspirations of peoples in the region, including those of Palestinians for statehood, and of Israelis for security. Within the context of its ongoing engagement, the EU is deeply concerned about the continuing stalemate in the Peace Process and calls for the urgent resumption of direct negotiations leading to a comprehensive solution on all tracks. Our goal remains a just and lasting resolution to the Israeli- Palestinian conflict, with the State of Israel and an independent, democratic, contiguous, sovereign and viable State of Palestine, living side by side in peace and security and mutual recognition. A way must be found through negotiations to resolve the status of Jerusalem as the future capital of two States. Recalling the Berlin Declaration, the EU reiterates its readiness to recognize a Palestinian State when appropriate. Justice, rule of law and respect for international human rights and international humanitarian law are the cornerstones of peace and security.
    [Show full text]
  • Peace Wall Or Separation Barrier?
    KS3 Citizenship and politics – Difference and diversity Peace Wall or Separation Barrier? Aim: Looking Deeper • Growing trust and respect to overcome fear and hatred Peace walls At various times in very recent history, right up to the present day, ‘Peace Fences’ or ‘Separation Barriers’ or ‘Apartheid Walls’ have Introduction been erected in different parts of the world. Many are not very far from England! Alexandra Park You may want to illustrate this assembly with The Berlin Wall was built in 1961 by the photos of the various ‘separation walls and German Democratic Republic (also known in fences’ mentioned in the outline. Pictures of all the UK as East Germany, belonging to the of them are freely available on the internet. Soviet block after World War II). In West Imagine the scene in Alexandra Park in Germany, it was known as the ‘Wall of Shame’. It was built ostensibly ‘to protect the people’ Belfast; a three metre high fence divides the from the Western influences which were grass, gardens and play areas in two. corrupting them and preventing the Catholic children playing in one part of the establishment of a socialist state. The Berlin Park can see through the fence to where Wall was a massive concrete barrier, nearly four their Protestant neighbours play in a metres high (imagine that!) stretching for different part of the Park. On one side is the nearly 100 miles, with armed guards in towers at intervals along it. This ‘Iron Curtain’ as it was mainly Catholic area of Antrim Road, and on also known, cut the city of Berlin into two the other is the mainly Protestant area of parts.
    [Show full text]