The West Bank Wall

Inside Checkpoint 300: Checkpoint Regimes as Spatial Political Technologies in the Occupied Palestinian Territories

“…The Wall—in certain points a nine‐metre high concrete barrier—has been the focus of rich and detailed scholarly work (see, among others, Azoulay and Ophir ; Handel , ; Jones et al. ; Sorkin ). Inspired by existing debates, here we approach the Wall as part of what Weizman (:6) has famously defined as the “architecture of occupation”, made of checkpoints, fences, Israeli settlements, bypass roads, road blocks and no‐go military zones.…”

“…Since the 1990s, in fact, an increasingly dense network of checkpoints was established to intensify the control over the movement of Palestinians, a process accelerated after the construction of "the Wall" started in 2002, during the Second (or al-Aqsa) Intifada (2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005). The Wallin certain points a nine-metre high concrete barrier-has been the focus of rich and detailed scholarly work (see, among others, Azoulay and Ophir 2009;Handel 2009Handel , 2016Jones et al 2016;Sorkin 2005). Inspired by existing debates, here we approach the Wall as part of what Weizman (2007:6) has famously defined as the "architecture of occupation", made of checkpoints, fences, Israeli settlements, bypass roads, road blocks and no-go military zones.…”

The land of the checkpoints : Study of the daily geographies of checkpoints in the Occupied Palestinian Territories

“…(Jones, Leuenberger, & Wills, 2016, p. 3). But, as Jones, Leuenberger and Wills (2016) continue, "the Wall's existence and route has become another 'fact on the ground' that reshapes Palestinian experience of occupation, their limited national sovereignty, their political struggles over Jewish settlements, and their position in peace negotiations with Israel" (p. 3). Large sections of the Wall do not consist of a concrete wall but, rather, of a 4.5 metre high electric fence with a security zone.…”

“…The sections of the Wall that are actual concrete wall are 8-9 metres high, as is the case in Bethlehem (OCHA Occupied Palestinian Territory, 2011). In this thesis, I follow authors such as Jones, Leuenberger and Wills (2016) and Weizman (2007), in using the term 'Wall', with a capitalised 'w', as this term clearly represents the distinct spatial and political nature of this barrier.…”

“…Since the 1990s, in fact, an increasingly dense network of checkpoints was established to intensify the control over the movement of Palestinians, a process accelerated after the construction of "the Wall" started in 2002, during the Second (or al-Aqsa) Intifada (2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005). The Wall -in certain points a 9-metre high concrete barrier -has been the focus of rich and detailed scholarly work (see, among others, Azoulay & Ophir, 2009;Handel, 2009Handel, , 2016Jones et al, 2016;Sorkin, 2005 as professional officers who would operate border crossings with the objective of "taking the army out of the checkpoints" (Braverman, 2011, p. 150). The terminal checkpoints were thus supposed to represent neutral border crossings, with fixed 'passage regulations' (Handel, 2009…”