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An aerial view of the separation fence, near Jerusalem. (AP)
Last update - 23:58 17/11/2007
UN: West Bank fence severs Palestinans farmers from fields
By The Associated Press
Tags: West Bank, UN, Palestinians 

Only 18 percent of some 30,000 West Bank farmers who used to work the lands cut off by Israel's separation fence now have Israeli permits to reach their fields, the United Nations said in a report on the lives of some 230,000 Palestinians in 67 communities close to the fence.

The report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs looked at 15 communities with about 10,000 residents trapped between the fence and Israel, and at 52 communities with 220,000 residents on the Palestinian side of the divider.

Those in the hemmed-in villages require permanent residency permits, while those on the east side of the fence need Israeli-issued visitors permits to reach lands or visit family in the enclosed communities.
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Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said the report is one-sided and that Israel is working to reduce the fence's impact on the Palestinians.

Israel started building the fence in 2002, saying it is a temporary security tool meant to keep out of Palestinian attackers who by then had killed hundreds of Israeli civilians in bombings and shootings. However, the fence is largely built on West Bank land and Palestinians say its meandering route amounts to a land grab.

Once completed, it would slice off 8.6 percent of West Bank land and, according to UN data, incorporate 380,000 of 450,000 Israelis living in the West Bank, which the Palestinians demand for a future state.

The UN report, citing local community leaders, said that of some 30,000 Palestinians who used to work their fields on the Israeli side of the fence, only 18 percent currently have permits to reach their fields. Some 3,000 people stopped applying because they'd been repeatedly rejected in the past.

Sixty-seven gates are built into the 200 kilometer stretch of fence studied, the report said. Of those, 19 are open daily to those with permits, but are closed at night, while another 19 are open during special harvest seasons, or weekly, the report said.

Of the 15 villages hemmed in by the fence, nine reported that pregnant women had to leave their homes weeks before birth to ensure they could access proper health care, and just over half the villages said they had no access to basic health care, meaning they had to pass through gates in Israel's fence for treatment.

The UN report said all the hemmed-in villages reported single people had problems meeting spouses because of that isolation - a burden in conservative Palestinian society, which expects men and women to marry quite young, and looks disapprovingly upon those who delay marriage.

The fence, alongside Israeli settlements and Israeli-only roads, has fragmented the West Bank.

Some 60 percent has been completed, mostly in the northern West Bank and around Jerusalem. In an advisory ruling in 2004, the International Court of Justice said the parts of the fence that jut into the West Bank are illegal and called on Israel to dismantle them.

Regev said the fence has boosted Israeli security. "We have seen since the fence has gone up, a 90 percent reduction of suicide bombings into Israel, surely these are facts that can't be ignored," Regev said.

"Ultimately the route of the fence is for security reasons. We have a policy to find the greatest possible security to Israelis and minimize the negative impact to Palestinians," he said.
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  1.   BUT NO FENCE CAUSED DEATH&BEREAVEMENT TO ISRAELIS 13:43  |  Alan 17/11/07
  2.   THE ARAB DOMINATED UN CAN GO SCREW ITSELF! 13:57  |  NEW YORKER 17/11/07
  3.   "west bank fence brings hardship to thousands" and west bank with 13:59  |  Nahum Gonen 17/11/07
  4.   "Ultimately the route of the fence is for security reasons" 14:01  |  Leona 17/11/07
  5.   Build a thousand walls in ISRAEL; not the West Bank 14:18  |  Esther 17/11/07
  6.   Apartheid Wall.... 14:25  |  POP 17/11/07
  7.   Esther #5 Huh?? 14:38  |  S 17/11/07
  8.   This barrier saved thousands human lives 14:47  |  Shlomo from Tel Aviv 17/11/07
  9.   The security fence 14:54  |  Hilda 17/11/07
  10.   FENSE STOPS TERROR AND STRAP BOMBS 14:57  |  Petra 17/11/07
  11.   SOUNDS LIKE A PLAN A GOOD ONE!!! 14:59  |  Petra 17/11/07
  12.   The populist "apartheid" liars 15:04  |  Joe Sittizen 17/11/07
  13.   Occupation requires formation 15:06  |  Nephtaly 17/11/07
  14.   I don`t care 15:09  |  Steven A. 17/11/07
  15.   pop ........do you call that apartheid? 15:10  |  nmf 17/11/07
  16.   MORE LAND FOR ISRAEL GOOD!!!!! 15:11  |  Petra 17/11/07
  17.   esther........but the west bank 15:12  |  nmf 17/11/07
  18.   The obvious answer to the UN report 15:14  |  Joe Sittizen 17/11/07
  19.   Petra = Terrorist? 15:15  |  XxX 17/11/07
  20.   THIS BARRIER, AMEN AMEN BROTHER TRUTH!!!!!! 15:17  |  Petra 17/11/07
  21.   where are the palestinian supporters who love 15:18  |  nsm 17/11/07
  22.   THE SECURITY FENCE, HILDA 15:21  |  Petra 17/11/07
  23.   correction fence!!! TOO EARLY NOT ENUF COFFEE. 15:22  |  Petra 17/11/07
  24.   And security to milions! 15:23  |  S 17/11/07
  25.   UN A GIFT FROM THE ROCKEFELLAS 15:24  |  Petra 17/11/07
  26.   fence 15:24  |  colin 17/11/07
  27.   you stop suicide bombing 15:24  |  from far away land 17/11/07
  28.   Nahum Gonen 15:25  |  MR 17/11/07
  29.   UN HYPOCRACY LIES AND ANTI ISRAELI CLAPTRAP 15:29  |  Lou Knee 17/11/07
  30.   Our security fence 15:36  |  Judah N. Wenkel 17/11/07
  31.   #9 - Hilda - it`s not the wall but the route that is the problem 15:38  |  A Bethlehemite 17/11/07
  32.   the security fence is a life saving mechanism, together with 15:38  |  Boaz Eshkol 17/11/07
  33.   The Arabs need to learn how to behave 15:39  |  ottomatik 17/11/07
  34.   8.6 percent = 40 Years of Terror - Seems correct to me? 15:54  |  B`Galil 17/11/07
  35.   To #6 POP - Yes, 8 Pal`s by Hamas 15:56  |  B`Galil 17/11/07
  36.   60 percent completed and terror 100 percent stopped 16:21  |  Omran 17/11/07
  37.   Esther #5 is ofcourse a complete SHAM... 16:30  |  Esther 17/11/07
  38.   The point is where this fence is built 16:35  |  joki 17/11/07
  39.   Saw the barriers/fences/walls 16:38  |  Esther 17/11/07
  40.   The Wall will fall (eventually) 16:44  |  Ben Alofs 17/11/07
  41.   S #24 How many times I have to ask you to change your S? 16:44  |  S 17/11/07
  42.   tripple x...calling petra a terrorist? 16:47  |  nmf 17/11/07
  43.   TO THE USELESS UN:DISMANTLE HIZBOLLAH FIRST!! 16:53  |  NEW YORKER 17/11/07
  44.   Regev: Mr. Slime 16:58  |  edgar 17/11/07
  45.   PALESTINIAN CHOICE 16:59  |  ANUAR AL SADAT 17/11/07
  46.   The Fence Should be Moved 17:00  |  Jane 17/11/07
  47.   Monstrosity of the walls.....(21/10/07) 17:03  |  Esther 17/11/07
  48.   So, by now we have a fake Esther and a fake S 17:06  |  S 17/11/07
  49.   To PETRA #16 17:20  |  Simon Agha 17/11/07
  50.   The location of the fence: Well, it is located on the best 17:23  |  Na`ama 17/11/07
  51.   45 Jane of Palm Beach - A Voice in the Wilderness 18:11  |  Mark of Lewiston 17/11/07
  52.   S #7 Huh 18:13  |  Esther 17/11/07
  53.   UN: W. Bank fence severs Palestinans from fields 18:25  |  Yonatan 17/11/07
  54.   #5 Leona the ignorant 18:28  |  Yonatan 17/11/07
  55.   #6 POP - Thank God for our Apartheid Wall 18:30  |  Yonatan 17/11/07
  56.   West Bank Fence Saves Israeli Lives 18:34  |  Daniel 17/11/07
  57.   Wall and Farmers 18:45  |  Plastic Surgeon 17/11/07
  58.   fence severs Palestinans from fields 18:49  |  Philippe 17/11/07
  59.   joki # 38 The Green Line 19:26  |  Jeff Northridge 17/11/07
  60.   security wall/fence. 19:48  |  Baruch Hashem 17/11/07
  61.   Re Na`ama #50 20:02  |  Esther 17/11/07
  62.   Israel Is Still Far Too Timid 20:06  |  Dave Levy 17/11/07
  63.   ben alofs.......the palestinians cannot be trusted 20:06  |  nsm 17/11/07
  64.   would be nice if americans 20:17  |  nmf 17/11/07
  65.   Edgar the wicked, disgrace to humanity 20:33  |  Mordecai Ben Natan 17/11/07
  66.   The UN report and ICJ position is disguised antisemitism 20:36  |  Joseph E . 17/11/07
  67.   Re:Walls and Farmers.... 21:07  |  Dolores 17/11/07
  68.   Ghetto walls do not keep Jews safe 21:18  |  Naftali Lavie 17/11/07
  69.   Haaretz and the Fence 21:37  |  Philippe 17/11/07
  70.   This is according to plan. 21:51  |  Maki 17/11/07
  71.   Good Fences Make Good Neighbours