Court OK's new section of separation fence
Supreme Court rejects Palestinian villagers' appeal, but promises to allow farmers access to land
The Supreme Court has rejected requests by Palestinian villagers to reroute a section of the West Bank separation barrier straddling the Jerusalem municipal border.
Residents of the Walajeh village say the section, which is under construction, would cut them off from their farmlands, cemetery and a water source.
A panel of three justices, which included Supreme Court President Dorit Beinish, explained that "the fence's damage to the petitioners is in fair proportion to the security advantages produced by the fence".
A 2010 injunction against the barrier's construction was thus lifted.
The government says the barrier, which at multiple points dips inside the West Bank, is crucial to keep out terrorists. Palestinians accuse Israel of using the fence to grab West Bank land.
Although the court dismissed the request to completely reroute the barrier section, Israel agreed to adjust its path to keep the natural spring on the village's side of the barrier.
The cemetery and farmlands will remain on the other side, but Israel promised to construct an underground passageway so villagers could reach the cemetery without advance military coordination. It also promised to erect access points in the barrier for Walajeh's farmers to work their lands under the army's supervision.
Villager Mazin Qumsiyeh, a leader of the anti-barrier protests, said the access points wouldn't help because only landowners, and not farmhands, would be allowed through.
"This is the kind of thing that comes from Israeli courts," Qumsiyeh said. "They usually try to find some sort of compromise, so to speak, but the end result is that the military establishment has the final word."
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