The West Bank Apartheid/Separation Wall: Space, Punishment and the Disruption of Social Continuity

Abstract

ABSTRACTThrough the use of survey data from the West Bank, this paper explores the effects of the Apartheid/Separation Wall in the occupied territory of the West Bank on Palestinian society. How has the Wall separated a population from their loved ones, their orchards and crops, homes, and overall livelihood? How have these relationships transformed? Place and space have special meanings in Palestinian experience and consciousness, and yet Palestinians remain vulnerable to punishment through control of access to spaces and places.The inability to reach one’s home or land has serious ramifications on the psyche of individuals and communities. Not only do physical barriers hinder social interactions, but they also impact society in numerous ways. The effects on Palestinian society are largely invisible and have long-term and far-reaching consequences. These consequences run deeper than the physical barriers that have created them.Social continuity has repeatedly been disrupted due to the geopolitical transformation of land control and roads network, which favours one group (Israeli Jews) over another (Palestinian Arabs—Christian and Muslim). The policies of separation, through the wall, checkpoints, and the permit regime, have actually separated Palestinians from other Palestinians, and not Palestinians from Israelis.