Palestinians fear losing link to work, schools as Israeli barrier grows.

Byline: Evan Osnos

ABU DIS, West Bank _ After snaking for months through farms and villages of the northern West Bank, the Israeli security barrier has reached the dense neighborhoods and fierce passions of Jerusalem.

Already a flash point in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the barrier is braiding new bitterness into life in Jerusalem as Israelis seek to shield themselves from the threat of suicide bombers and Palestinians clamor to maintain a link to the city they envision as their future capital.

"I spent all my life working in Jerusalem, and now I am a prisoner trapped out here," said Rami Al-Fendi, a 26-year-old Palestinian in Abu Dis, a dusty suburb that has become separated from the city by a barrier of concrete and barbed wire.

International opposition to the barrier is increasing. In a report to the United Nations General Assembly on Friday, Secretary General Kofi Annan condemned the project as a "deeply counterproductive act" that "could damage the longer-term prospects for peace."

The United States has been critical of the project for jutting into parts of the West Bank to encircle Israeli settlements. Last week the Bush administration announced it would withhold nearly $300 million in loan guarantees to Israel as punishment for the barrier and for the continuing construction in settlements in the Palestinian territories.

But Israel shows no sign of changing course.