Palestinians from the Shu‘fat refugee camp in East Jerusalem watch as Israeli forces replace sections of the Separation Wall (al-jidar) that collapsed the previous day following heavy rainfall and flooding. The wall cuts through East Jerusalem and separates the camp from the adjacent Israeli settlement of Pisgat Ze’ev, visible on the left (see The Separation Wall).
The wall—referred to by Israel as a “security barrier” and by Palestinians as the “apartheid wall”—was begun in 2002 during the Second Intifada and completed several years later. It extends deep into occupied Palestinian territory, fragmenting and dividing Palestinian neighborhoods, separating communities, and restricting movement.
In East Jerusalem, the wall has been used to encircle and isolate Palestinian areas like Shu‘fat refugee camp, while simultaneously connecting large Israeli settlements (such as Pisgat Ze’ev) to West Jerusalem. Established in the 1980s, Pisgat Ze’ev is the largest settlement in East Jerusalem, built on land expropriated from Palestinian villages (see The Three Settlement Rings in and around Jerusalem: Supplanting Palestinian Jerusalem). Although it is considered illegal under international law, the wall has expanded over the years, increasingly encroaching on Palestinian neighborhoods like Shu‘fat camp.