Israel erects wall in Held Jerusalem suburb

By: Ahmad Hammadi

ABU DIS, West Bank: Israel hoisted 8-meter-tall concrete slabs into the middle of a main road in this Palestinian suburb of Held Jerusalem on Monday, cutting off thousands of Palestinians from the city.

The impassable wall is part of a series of barriers Israel is building around much of the West Bank. Palestinians see it as an effort to take land they claim for a future state.

Along its path, the barrier has cut Palestinians off from their fields and schools, their hospitals and businesses.

Parts of the wall have been put up elsewhere around east Jerusalem, which Israel seized in 1967 along with the West Bank, but the sections put up in Abu Dis were the most intrusive yet, signaling that Israel's encirclement of the city is becoming more permanent.

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