Models walk beside Israel's "crazy, ugly and grey abnormal wall"

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, March 4 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - An Israeli clothing chain held a photo shoot for their summer catalogue on Wednesday, March 3, at Israel's West Bank separation barrier, less than a week after Israeli troops shot dead three Palestinians protesting its construction.

"We're not politicians but we live in this country and wanted to portray the situation as it is: a mix of beauty, colors and regular women's aspirations standing next to this crazy, ugly and grey abnormal wall," Sybil Goldfiner from Tel Aviv-based Comme-il-faut was quoted as saying by Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"Israel is a combination of normalcy and abnormality, we live with it but truly it does not make sense," she asserted.

Local and international models were dressed in colorful frocks inspired by African and Caribbean fashion and posed for photos along the backdrop of 25-foot-high slabs of concrete that now separate parts of occupied Jerusalem from the West Bank, AP said.

The catalogue, which features five models from various ethnic backgrounds sporting casual, multi-hued but unexceptional t-shirts, pants and flowery dresses will be ready by mid-April 2004.

Comme-il-faut has six shops in Israel and defines itself as a "house of fashion with a social and feminist agenda," said Goldfiner.

"We seek to point out the many rules and boundaries women are subjected to and the wall is yet another boundary for women on both the Israeli and Palestinian side," she said.

"We hope women will one day be able to take control of their lives, of the situation and stop the killings."

On Thursday, February 26, three Palestinians were killed by Israeli troops while protesting the construction of the separation wall.

Israel argues the barrier, which will eventually snake some 600 kilometers (365 miles) around occupied Jerusalem and along the occupied West Bank, is meant to head off Palestinian attacks.

Believing otherwise, the Palestinians told the International Court of Justice, which was asked by the U.N. General Assembly to rule on the wall legality, that it would only entrench Israeli occupation of the West Bank and preset the boundaries of a future Palestinian state.

Condemning the wall, a U.N. report said it would lead to severe humanitarian consequences for more than 680,000 Palestinians.

Stark Contrast

The concept behind the "women without boundaries" fashion campaign started when two art students were assigned a project for their advertising and ideology class, AP said.

"The idea was to show the stark contrast between the aggression of the wall and the beauty of fashion," said Maayan Smoler, 25, an art student and one of the creative minds behind the project.

Smoler said that although most Israelis hear about the barrier, "they don't quite understand what it means. Now, maybe they will at least talk about it." 

Breaking silence on the Israeli wall, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) slammed it as a violation of international law.

"The ICRC's opinion is that the West Bank Barrier, in as far as its route deviates from the 'Green Line' into occupied territory, is contrary to IHL (International humanitarian law)," the ICRC said in a press release on Wednesday, February 18.

The U.N. General Assembly had overwhelmingly passed a resolution, demanding Israel to "stop and reserve" the construction of the wall.