Palestine: Images of the wall that separates Israel from the West Bank

Traveling from Jerusalem to Ramallah, Palestinian city located about 10 to 15 km north of Jerusalem, requires crossing the wall that separates Israel from the West Bank.

To get there, usually there are no controls slowing the movement of cars when passing the wall, so it is possible to reach the city in a few minutes drive if there is not much traffic.

Returning to Jerusalem, however, is usually much slower and requires long waits, especially in or out of work hours, due to the long lines of cars and buses formed to pass through Israeli check point, in which it is usually required passport, visa or a permit to enter.  Sometimes cars and belongings are also checked to avoid the entry of weapons and explosives but this control is pretty random and not always carried out.

During my time here, I have met many Palestinians living in Ramallah because of the lower living cost there but working or still having family in Jerusalem, so they need to go through this wall almost every day.

This wall is, as the image shows, a painful testimony of the conflict in the Middle East: a defense for the Israelis, and a symbol of oppression for Palestinians.

By Tatiana Paradiso.