http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3155074.stm
A mix of surprising and unsurprising.
Up until last week, Ariel wasn't going to be included. In fact, still there is an "out" for them...the fence isn't going to be connected at the points north and south of the Ariel bulge to the main wall, leaving open the option of not declaring it a border.
The new route is even wierder than the old one, as the Knesset went to the trouble to draw the wall outside of as many Palestinian towns as possible to avoid cutting them off from the rest of the territories, which ended up good in that only about 4000 Palestinians will be on the Israeli side (vs. 40,000 Israelis) but bad in that the border is so convoluted that I can't imagine it ever being a clearly defined border (other than by the wall itself).
I am, frankly, in favour of not extending the fence to Ariel, but just building a true wall around the city. It would allow the fence to run closer to the "Green Line" and would cheese off the Palestinians less. There is certainly precedent for this...America "occupied" West Berlin for 40 years and it was hundreds of miles from its mother country, not the 10 or so that Ariel lies.
A mix of surprising and unsurprising.
Up until last week, Ariel wasn't going to be included. In fact, still there is an "out" for them...the fence isn't going to be connected at the points north and south of the Ariel bulge to the main wall, leaving open the option of not declaring it a border.
The new route is even wierder than the old one, as the Knesset went to the trouble to draw the wall outside of as many Palestinian towns as possible to avoid cutting them off from the rest of the territories, which ended up good in that only about 4000 Palestinians will be on the Israeli side (vs. 40,000 Israelis) but bad in that the border is so convoluted that I can't imagine it ever being a clearly defined border (other than by the wall itself).
I am, frankly, in favour of not extending the fence to Ariel, but just building a true wall around the city. It would allow the fence to run closer to the "Green Line" and would cheese off the Palestinians less. There is certainly precedent for this...America "occupied" West Berlin for 40 years and it was hundreds of miles from its mother country, not the 10 or so that Ariel lies.
