Fayyad says West Bank barrier will fall like Berlin Wall

Oct 3, 2011, 18:15 GMT

Ramallah - Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad Monday said the half-concrete, half fence barrier Israel is building along the West Bank will fall just as the Berlin Wall did.

Speaking at a reception at the German Representative Office in Ramallah to mark the Day of German Unity, Fayyad said the barrier, which in places snakes deep into the West Bank, 'is going to fall under the will of the Palestinian people just as the Berlin wall had fallen under the will of the German people who wanted to reunite their country.'

Israel began building the barrier in 2002, after a spate of suicide bombings, originating in the West Bank, claimed dozens of lives in Israeli cities.

Palestinians however say the wall is an excuse for an Israeli 'land-grab,' since in places it deviates from the border between Israel and the West Bank and encompasses Palestinian territory.

Fayyad said the Palestinian people were ready to live like any other people in this world and should be able to become a member state in the United Nations.

The Palestinians applied on September 23 for full membership in the world body, a move which would in effect ratify Palestinian statehood. The application was opposed by Israel and the US, who say a Palestinian state can only come about through negotiations.

The UN Security Council is supposed to make its decision regarding the application in the next few weeks. The US said it will cast its veto when the matter comes to a vote there.

Fayyad thanked Germany for its financial and other support for the Palestinian people, either through bilateral agreements or through the European Union.

He said this support made it possible for the Palestinian Authority to prepare its institutions for the future state.

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