11th November 2003

Draft of letter intended for the press (readers' letters)

To use the term "Apartheid Wall" to describe the barrier being constructed by Israel is to fall into a trap. The main purpose of the wall is to grab 10% of the West Bank. If it were merely for separation and security it would follow the agreed border between the West Bank and Israel. Instead it is convoluted, making it more than twice as long as it might be, sweeping miles into occupied territory. Where it goes between a Palestinian town or village and a Jewish settlement it is located very near the former. The effects are to take farmers' land, olive groves, and grazing, and also to constrain any Palestinian urban expansion. It might better be called the Land-Grab Wall or the Strangulation Wall.