View Static Version
Loading

THE WALL A wall is now being built between Israel and Palestine

The background of this project stems from a journey to Palestine in 2003 that I made together with visual artist Cecilia Parsberg, writer Ana Valdés and Torbjörn Johansson, director of Interactive Institute, Umeå. The purpose of the journey was to investigate the construction of the wall in the occupied territories in Palestine and on the disputed border between Palestine and Israel. At the time of the trip, the wall was 160 kilometers long. As of September 2017, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), approximately 460 kilometers (about 65% of the planned barrier) had been completed. An additional 53 kilometers (about 7.5%) were under construction, while construction had not yet begun on approximately 200 kilometers of the barrier. (Photos by Erik Pauser)

"We went to Palestine to find out more about the wall that is under construction on the occupied territories between Israel and Palestine. We wanted to see the wall and speak to people affected by the wall. To build a wall is a physical manifestation of a reality on many levels, geographical, cultural, technological, mental, philosophical and legal. The Wall for us is a symbol of the conflict between Israel and Palestine. We have also made a site about the wall with 120 pictures, interviews, maps etc." (Text from the site produced at the time. Full credits of that project can be found in the end of the page)

We also produced two films during our visit, which were widely screened. We participated in exhibitions, publications, seminars, talks, and more. Unfortunately, the website is no longer available. This page only includes a small selection of pictures and text.

Settlement on the occupied territory.

"The wall doesn’t follow the border, the so-called Green Line that marks the 1967 border and there are alternate plans exactly where to build the wall. The plan used at the moment will tantamount to de facto annexation of over 10% of the West Bank. This will include important water sources and much of the most important agricultural areas of the West Bank. Palestinian communities on the “Israeli” side of this imposing structure will be annexed into Israel proper and Palestinian communities close to the wall will be separated from their agricultural land. According to the Israeli government the fence is being built to provide security for Jewish Israeli’s in Israeli proper.

The wall 2005 (Marshallcenter.org)

"The Israelis have assured the Palestinians that the people whose land falls on the “wrong” side of the wall will have access to that land both during and after the construction. The record to date on allowing people to cross the wall, however, has been abysmal, instead armed private security forces, the border police and regular soldiers are denying Palestinians access to their lands daily. They have cut off and blocked roads into agricultural areas (and whole communities), ruined irrigation systems and detained Palestinians in the wall construction area."

"In Jayyous and Ras Ataya among other small villages close to Tulkarem the construction of the wall has already cut off access to almost all the community's agricultural land. Even though the wall yet is just a scar on the terrain and the foundation is not yet in place, the people of this community have to walk several kilometers to pass to the other side of the wall. They then have to walk back to their land from the crossing point, on the other side of the “marked” but still nonexistent wall. Returning home at the end of the day would mean a similar arduous trek. Palestinian vehicles are not being permitted to cross at any local points." ( Excerps from the site produced at the time.)

Many roads leading to villages are blocked.
Settlement on the occupied territory.
Home destroyed by the IDF -Israel Defense Forces

The Wall - the web site was a collaboration between: Visual artist and filmmaker Erik Pauser, visual artist Cecilia Parsberg, Equator. Writer Ana Valdés, Equator. Studio director Torbjörn Johansson, Interactive Institute, Umeå. Production assistant, Ania Pauser.

Photos by Erik Pauser

NextPrevious