On July 9, 2004, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued an advisory opinion entitled Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Commonly referred to as the Apartheid Wall, it is illegal under international law. The Court was clear, demanding the wall be removed, Palestinian rights re-established, and it called upon the international community to enforce Israeli compliance. Nearly 20 years later, the wall continues to grow.
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Apartheid is a word associated with South Africa before 1992. However, the definition fits the parameters of Israeli law and conduct. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, B'Tselem, and dozens of global humanitarian organizations have concluded Israel is an apartheid state.

DEFINITION OF APARTHEID:

1. An official policy of racial segregation involving political, legal, and economic discrimination against one group of people by another due to their race, origin, faith, or other determining factors.
2. A policy or practice of separating or segregating groups.
3. The condition of being separated from others; segregation.
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The wall was first proposed in 1973 during the Yom Kippur War by Ariel Sharon (who ironically pretended to be against it in 2002). Its purpose is to create specific "facts on the ground" that would complement the annexation of land via the settlement projects instituted after the 6-Day War of 1967.

The actual planning of the wall began in 1978, nine years before the first Intifada (uprising) and fifteen years before the first suicide bomb. Security was never the objective. Annexation and disenfranchisement of the indigenous people were the goals. The wall and settlements made it impossible for a contiguous state for non-Jewish people in the Holy Land. The first public mention of the planned wall was in 1992 by Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. The wall consists of areas of fence and concrete.

The Apartheid Wall is four times longer than the Berlin Wall and up to 25 feet in height, with a large portion built on land not part of Israel. Construction on the wall began in 1994 following the Oslo Accords of September 1993, with 112 miles completed by late 2003. In contrast, the Berlin Wall was 12 feet high and 103 miles long.

In 2004, Israel's Wall was deemed illegal under international law. However, the state continues to build, expand, and confiscate land, destroying thousands of Palestinian homes, businesses, and agricultural properties. In addition to the wall, Israeli apartheid accelerates through a network of Jewish-only roads, Jewish-only colonies, unequal distribution of resources like water, checkpoints, permits, and a two-tiered legal system throughout the Occupied Territory.

Despite the court ruling, Israel has continued its pattern of injustice with impunity. The wall and its associated regime of colonial settlements continue to grow in Palestine, embodying a massive instrument of land annexation, the pillage of natural resources, and displacement.

In 2014, thirty organizations and coalitions came together to declare July the Month Against the Apartheid Wall. In 2018, the Israeli Knesset made apartheid official state policy by passing the Jewish Nation-state bill. This bill states Israel is home to its Jewish population exclusively. In June 2022, Israel dissolved its government, forcing the fifth election in four years to avoid ending its apartheid policies due to sunset at the end of the month. By dissolving the government, the apartheid laws can stay intact. Twitter: #StopImpunity