The Israeli separation wall in the West Bank is illegal

CAIRO – 22 July 2017: “Visualizing Palestine” published an infographic in July illustrating that Israel has compeleted 62 percent of the planned 708 km illegal separation wall in the occupied West Bank. The infographic came in the memory of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) advisory opinion issued 13 years ago on the illegality of the seperation wall.

It further illustrates that 85 percent of the completed construction is beyond the green line (pre-1967 borders) inside the occupied West Bank. The green line is a demarcation line set in 1949 based on the ceasefire agreement between the Israeli occupation and its neighbors (Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria) after the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.

Israel has tried for decades to expand beyond the green line and to delete it from the public consciousness by building on the sides of the line and deleting it from textbooks and weather maps. Israeli drivers cross the line every second while driving from Tel-Aviv to Jerusalem. Furthermore, the Israeli occupation established a light rail system across the green line.



The ICJ, established in June 1945 and has its headquarters at the Hague, Netherlands, is the main judicial body of the United Nations. People sometimes call it the “World Court”. It is charged with settling legal disputes between nations and issuing advisory opinions on where international law stands on contentious issues. The ICJ is formed of 15 judges, with no more than one from any state. On February 6, 2015, the court elected Judge Ronny Abraham (France) to be president and Judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf (Somalia) to be vice-president.

“Visualizing Palestine” first published the below infographic in July 2013, and the non-profit organization republishes it every July until the wall is dismantled, according to its official website.



“Visualizing Palestine”, launched in 2012, is an independent, non-profit laboratory for innovation at the intersection of data science, technology and design. It creates data-driven tools to advance a factual, rights-based narrative of the Palestinian-Israeli issue, working in partnership with civil society actors to amplify their impact and promote justice and equality.