After a wave of suicide attacks killed more than 1,000 Israelis in the second Palestinian intifada, Israel began erecting a security wall to protect its citizens. But the separation barrier, as it is also known, divided not only Israelis from Palestinians, but in many places separated Palestinians from their relatives, land, and jobs.
Around Jerusalem, the barrier departs significantly from the pre-1967 border known as the Green Line – and even from the municipal boundaries, making significant detours into the West Bank to include Israeli settlements such as Maale Adumim and Givat Zeev.
In the Arab neighborhood of Abu Dis, the wall cut off an unfinished Palestinian parliament building from Jerusalem proper. The $15 million project had begun in 1997 with the understanding that Palestinians would have their capital there, but work was suspended when the intifada began in 2000. The unfinished project now sits separated from Jerusalem, as are the people it was supposed to represent.
IN PICTURES: The Israeli separation barrier: A West Bank wall
