Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Israel's Supreme Court limits how far barrier can jut into West Bank, taking Palestinian land

Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank cannot run in wide loops around Israeli settlements to allow for their expansion, the country's Supreme Court ruled Monday in an order hailed by a lawyer for Palestinian villagers as a precedent-setting victory.

Monday's ruling came in the case of Bilin, a West Bank village that has become a symbol for Palestinian opposition to the barrier with weekly protests and clashes between villagers and Israeli troops. Bilin has lost half its land, or 500 acres, to the barrier and to the Modiin Illit settlement, home to 40,000 people and expanding rapidly.

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