22 international NGOs sign statement to dismantle the "wall"
On the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 22 NGOs including Oxfam, Christian Aid, Medicins Du Monde, Save the Children Sweden and UK branches and World Vision Jerusalem, signed a statement "express[ing] their alarm at the continuing construction of the Wall in the occupied Palestinian territory and the misery it is causing the Palestinian people." The release included emotive descriptions of the security barrier, the "irreparable damage to the economy and living standards of Palestinians" and the "irreversible trends to the social fabric of the West Bank." It made no mention of the barrier’s role in preventing terrorist attacks or of Hamas’ continued refusal to renounce violence or recognize Israel.