Palestinians: Israel rerouting barrier by West Bank village, 2 1/2 years after court order

Israel rerouting barrier near West Bank village

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Israel began work on Thursday to reroute a section of its West Bank separation barrier to restore land to a village that has become a flashpoint of Palestinian opposition to the enclosure.

The move comes 2 1/2 years after Israel’s Supreme Court ruled that the barrier must be moved to ease the hardship of Palestinians in the village of Bilin. Some Palestinians welcomed the development but stressed it fell far short of their demand to dismantle the entire enclosure.

Weekly protests have made Bilin a symbol of the Palestinian struggle against the barrier, which they say is a land grab because it juts into territory Palestinians claim for a future state and puts West Bank land on the “Israeli” side.

Six protesters have been killed and dozens injured in clashes with Israeli forces over the structure.

Bulldozers were on site Thursday and tracks for the new route were being laid down. Anti-barrier activist Khatib Abu Rahmeh said the Israeli military informed village officials that the new route would return 346 acres (140 hectares) of farmland to the village and adjacent communities.

Once the new route is built, the section of barrier currently standing around Bilin will be removed, Abu Rahmeh said. “It’s a victory for our struggle, but still a small victory until we achieve the big one: Removing the wall,” he said.

Israeli defense officials confirmed preliminary work was being done but did not provide details. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the rerouting before it was officially confirmed.

Israel began building the barrier in 2002 after a spate of deadly Palestinian attacks on Israelis.

Some 575 acres (232 hectares) — more than half of Bilin’s land — were confiscated to build a barrier loop around the expanding Jewish settlement of Modiin Ilit, cutting off villagers from their fields.

The battle to restore Bilin’s land has turned this village into a symbol of opposition to the barrier, which is to be a 430-mile-long (690 kilometers) route of towering cement slabs, electronic fencing, trenches and patrol roads when completed.

Protesters have gathered every Friday in the village for the past five years. Hundreds of Palestinian, Israeli and foreign demonstrators have been injured, and one Palestinian protester has been killed in clashes with Israeli forces. Five other Palestinian protesters have been killed in demonstrations against the barrier in the nearby village of Naalin.

In late 2007, Israel’s Supreme Court ordered the government to modify the route through Bilin, dismissing its argument that the current route was necessary to protect residents of the Jewish settlement.

The judges ordered the government to come up with a new route in a “reasonable period of time.”

Dozens of court cases like the Bilin appeal have held up construction of the barrier or forced rerouting of completed sections.

In a number of instances, the high court has ruled in favor of easing hardships caused to Palestinians and moving the route closer to the cease-fire line at the end of the 1948-49 war that followed Israel’s creation.