The Wall does not merely "snake through" the West Bank (in the words of GW Bush), although that would be bad enough.  It completely encircles the city of Qalqilya, leaving a single gate for entry and exit into the city. Thus, Qalqilya has become a virtual prison, with entry and exit controlled by Israeli soldiers according to no set rules. The Wall also cuts through Jayyous, the town near Qalqilya that we visited, dividing the farmland from the village. In order to access their farms, the Jayyous farmers need to have a permit and go through a gate controlled by Israeli soldiers. Only 700 permits have been issued, but 2,000 people need them. A permit is needed for each individual, not per family. Some of the permits have been granted to absentee landlords who aren't themselves farming the land; hence these permits are useless. One farmer told us that a permit had been granted to his wife, who has a bad back and can't do physical labor--but no permits were granted to himself or to his sons, who had been doing the farming. Once one has a permit, it's still necessary to get through the gate. This is not so simple. At times people have waited for three hours for Israeli soldiers to open the gate. Some days the gate has not been opened at all. Fruits and vegetables therefore cannot be harvested on time, so many rot.  

Compounding this problem for the farmers of Jayyous, as well as for West Bank farmers in other towns, is the general restriction on movement. Produce cannot easily be transported from Jayyous to the markets elsewhere where it formerly was sold. Why not? Because each town/village has become an enclave separated from every other. Essentially, each city, town and village has become a virtual prison. Permits are needed for travel from one locality to another, and they aren't always granted. Checkpoints block the roads and people wait in line at the checkpoints to try to get through. Vehicles often aren't allowed through the checkpoints. Transportation is entirely at the will of the Israeli military. Interrupting the transport of Palestinian produce serves a purpose for Israel--Israeli produce is now being sold in Palestinian towns where formerly, the produce sold was Palestinian.   

Besides the farmland that is quickly becoming useless behind the Wall, Jayyous farmers lost land due to the construction of the Wall. The phrase "the Wall" may not sound like something that takes up a lot of space. But it consists of not only the barrier itself--a reinforced fence with motion sensors in Jayyous, a high concrete wall in other areas--but also ditches and barbed wire to prevent people from even approaching the fence. Hence, it cuts a wide swath through the countryside and its construction required the uprooting of numerous trees, including the olive trees that are part of Palestinian agriculture. No compensation is being given for any of this destruction.   

Meanwhile, construction continues on the illegal Jewish-only settlements and the Jewish-only roads that serve them and that criss-cross the W. Bank--more features of the segregation/bantustan plan of the W. Bank.   

All of these things have been criticized by Bush etc. for interfering with the plan for a Palestinian state. Those remarks are the epitome of understatement. The Palestinians never had a state, but they used to at least have farms and jobs. At one time they could travel to the weddings and funerals of relatives in other towns and villages. All of this, the local economy and social structure, is slowly being destroyed by the travel restrictions, the Wall, and the settlements and their restricted roads. Palestinians are living in isolated ghettos guarded by the Israeli military. They are surviving mainly because of humanitarian aid. Unemployment has become rampant and stress-related illness--including physical conditions such as hypertension, plus depression, and social problems including domestic violence--are on the rise.   

Do the Wall and the travel restrictions enhance security? The Israeli human rights group B'tselem did a study that concluded that most of the suicide bombers went through checkpoints on their way to their targets. They did not make their way across open land that the Wall is allegedly designed to block off. Needless to say--the route of the Wall contradicts this security issue in any case, since the Wall mostly blocks Palestinians from each other, not from Israel. (And as for the checkpoints--what I saw was mostly harassment, not security. They didn't even check our passports or look inside our van. For all they knew, we could have been transporting weapons or explosives!)   

If any of this concerns you, you should write to your Member of Congress and express your support for suspension of U.S. aid to Israel until construction of the Wall is halted, settlement construction is halted, and travel within the West Bank is allowed to resume without restrictions.