The Israeli separation wall "is higher than any wall I've seen and even higher than the Berlin Wall," Redgrave said (AFP)

GAZA CITY, July  2 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Oscar-winning British actress and political activist Vanessa Redgrave has called Israel’s construction of the separation wall in the occupied West Bank as a "fatal policy", accusing the Israeli government of "destroying peace."

"The barrier is higher than any wall I've seen and even higher than the Berlin Wall," Redgrave told a press conference in Ramallah on Thursday, July 1.

Speaking during a five-day fact-finding tour of the Palestinian areas, she said the wall "impedes communications between the Palestinian and Israeli people", reported the Washington Times.

"I see Qalqilya turned into a prison camp. This will only destroy hope," the famed British actress said in reference to the West Bank town that has been virtually enveloped by an eight-meter (26-foot) high concrete wall.

Redgrave has met Palestinian locals to discuss life under the Israeli occupation and the impact of Israel ’s controversial barrier.

Israel claims the wall is built to stop attacks launched from the West Bank on Israeli towns.

However, the Palestinians fears the real aim is to dictate the borders of their future Palestinian state.

A UN report underlined that the controversial barrier constitutes illegal annexation  of Palestinian territory.

According to another report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), with the completion of the wall, 30 percent of the West Bank population, or some 680,000 people, will be "directly harmed."

Destroying Peace

Redgrave fought back tears as she spoke about schoolchildren in the Gaza Strip shot and either killed or seriously injured by Israeli snipers, reported the German news agency, dpa.

These scenes, she said, reminded her of her childhood years when she lost most of her family during the war in Europe .

"If I was older then, I would have done anything to stop fascism."

The renowned actress accused the Israeli government of killing off chances for peace with such actions.

"I see a government that is deliberately trying to destroy peace," Redgrave maintained.

She believed that Israel was in breach of the International Declaration on Human Rights as a result of its aggressions in the occupied Palestinian areas.

The Oscar-winning British actress is making her first visit to the West Bank and Gaza after nearly 30 years of political activism.

She is visiting the region as guest of and fund campaigner for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) and the UN children agency UNICEF.

War Crimes

Redgrave also appealed to Israel to ease the security restrictions it has imposed recently in the Gaza Strip so that UN agencies can distribute food more quickly to Palestinians.

The UNRWA has delayed its latest round of food distribution in Gaza by three weeks because of these restrictions, the UN said on its website.

On Tuesday, June 29, Redgrave cancelled a planned visit to the Gaza Strip city of Rafah – where she had hoped to meet some of the more than 15,000 people left homeless after the Israeli demolition of their homes.

The UN cited security restrictions for the cancellation.

The Israeli military offensive on Rafah and its refugee camp, the bloodiest of its kind in years, in May had claimed the lives of up to 62 Palestinians, flattened 155 homes and drove some 2000 residents homeless.

The international human rights watchdog, Amnesty International, had dismissed the operation as "war crimes".

But Redgrave nevertheless stopped short of supporting indicting Israel on war crimes.

"A number of governments could be indicted on war crimes," she said.

During her trip, which ends on Saturday, July 4, Redgrave has visited the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, toured refugee camps and health clinics, launched a UNICEF measles immunization scheme and participated with the British violinist and composer Stephen Bentley in a cultural program for Palestinians.

She also met Palestinian President Yasser Arafat Thursday.

Inaugurating an exhibition of his photographs in Ramallah on Saturday, June 6, Hollywood heartthrob Richard Gere said the Palestinian people have the right to a normal life.

Many world notables came under intense fire by the influential Jewish lobbies – dominating the cinema industry in the US - for declaring their support to the Palestinians.

The apology of others, such as Cherie Blair, wife of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, for pro-Palestinian remarks in June 2002, also helped to stifle anti-Israeli voices.