The West Bank Wall, or “barrier of separation” by some official Israeli accounts, has been a hugely controversial construction, winding through Palestinian territory, cutting farmers off from the bulk of their fields and leaving some Palestinian villages walled in on multiple sides.
It’s also the de facto border for the new Palestinian state, according to reports on the ongoing peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, as Israeli negotiators say there will be no debate and that’s going to be the border.
As the source of virtually every major protest in the occupied West Bank, using the wall as the border seems deliberately provocative and about the most controversial choice theoretically possible.
Both sides are extremely pessimistic about the talks going forward, though the US is hoping to “rescue” it with a new push. With the Palestinians seeking a peace deal set around the 1967 borders with some limited land swaps and Israel looking to simply dictate terms, there’s a big gap and little reason to think it will narrow any time soon.
