Sharon rejects Bush's call to take down 'security' fence

Rupert Cornwell
Wednesday 30 July 2003 00:00 BST
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In a rebuff to President George Bush yesterday, Israel dug in its heels over the controversial security fence it is building in the occupied West Bank, saying construction of the barrier would continue because it was essential for the country's security.

Speaking during his eighth visit to the White House since Mr Bush took office, Ariel Sharon, the Israeli Prime Minister, reverted to the familiar tactic of laying the blame on the Palestinians for not moving more forcefully to crack down on terrorism.

Although the three-month ceasefire declared by Palestinian militant groups was holding, the terror threat had not ceased, Mr Sharon said at a joint press conference in the Rose Garden with Mr Bush.

"The quiet could be shattered any minute, as a result of the continuing existence of terror organisations that the Palestinian Authority is doing nothing to eliminate," the Israeli Prime Minister said.

Mr Sharon met Mr Bush just four days after the President - with Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Prime Minister standing beside him - called the fence (more properly a wall) a "problem" that did not help the road-map peace plan being pushed by the United States and other big powers for an overall Middle East settlement by the end of 2005. The atmosphere yesterday was one of amiable agreement to disagree. Though Israel gave so little discernable ground, the two men were all smiles and friendliness, referring to each other as "Ariel" and "George".

Nothing suggested that the Bush administration, anxious not to upset its strongly pro-Israel conservative Christian supporters, is any readier than before to lean hard on Israel.

President Bush merely urged Israel to "consider the consequences of its actions" on the peace process. Mr Sharon in reply professed a desire to move ahead, and said that the construction of the fence would as far as possible minimise disturbance to the Palestinians. Mr Bush in turn proclaimed once more his "unshakeable" commitment to the safety of the Israeli people and the security of Israel.

And Mr Sharon did not have anything new to offer on the vexed question of Israeli settlement-building, criticised by Mr Bush in the past and whose complete freeze and subsequent rollback - along with the removal of the fence - was bluntly demanded by Mr Abbas last week. Under the road-map, Israel is required to halt activity at nearly 150 formal Jewish settlements - freezing a policy that the Palestinian Prime Minister described as a "land-grab" by Israel. In addition, small settlement outposts that have gone up since March 2001 must come down.

In fact, diplomats say, while a dozen of them have been removed in recent weeks, others have been put up. "Unauthorised outposts will be removed as required in a law-abiding country" was as far as Mr Sharon would go yesterday.

Since the formal launch of the road-map at President Bush's summit with Mr Abbas and Mr Sharon in Aqaba, Jordan, last month, both sides have made some gestures, including the ceasefire on the part of the Palestinians, and the announcement by Israel of the release of more than 500 Palestinian prisoners and the removal of 10 cross-border checkpoints. But neither side has made major concessions.

Village adrift in no man's land

By Justin Huggler in Baqa al-Sharqiya, West Bank

You can see the fence that caused controversy at George Bush's meeting with Ariel Sharon from just outside Baqa al-Sharqiya. The earth-brown streak cuts its way through the rolling foothills of the West Bank.

There are two fences - the first made of tough metal and, less than a metre behind it, a taller fence equipped with electronic sensors. Israeli army vehicles patrol a perimeter road, and stop any Palestinian who tries to cross where the road to Baqa al-Sharqiya passes through an opening.

The problem with the fence is that it is on the wrong side of Baqa al-Sharqiya. This is not the internationally recognised Green Line that separates Israel from the occupied West Bank. That is on the other side of the villages and there is another barrier there. Baqa al-Sharqiya is in the West Bank, but it has been fenced off from the rest of it. The new fence is about 1.5 miles inside the Green Line at this point and slices off a swath of land.

Now Baqa al-Sharqiya is stuck in a no man's land. "It's like living inside a zoo," says Zahran abd al-Khalim, a carpenter who lives and works in Baqa al-Sharqiya.

Mr Sharon insists the fence is purely for security, to stop would-be suicide bombers. But if that is the case, the village of Baqa al-Sharqiya begs a question. Why is the fence on the wrong side, when Israel already has a checkpoint and barriers separating the village from Israel? According to Mr abd al-Khalim, the answer is obvious. "Because they want to take more of our land," he says.

The fence has cut off Suleiman abd al-Muti, who lives on the West Bank side, from almost all of his farmland. Now he has to sneak through to his land when the patrols are not looking. "They say this fence is for security," he says. "But the fence kills people. It has killed me."

Traditionally, unskilled labourers crossed the Green Line into Israel to work in Baqa al-Sharqiya, or East Baqa's sister village - West Baqa, which is inside Israel. Now they are not allowed to. Israel has said it will allow the Palestinians through the fence for work. But Awwad Qassem says there is a catch. It takes two hours of queuing to get through the checkpoint. And by that time, all the work for the day has been taken.

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