Supporters of the barrier argue that this is necessary to curtail Palestinian terrorism, and use the decreased number of suicide bombings, as a measure of success. Opponents often call it the Apartheid Wall, and contend that the barrier deviates into occupied Palestinian territory, and is merely an attempt by Israel to annex Palestinian land under the guise of security. In some places, it diverges more than 20 km to include Jewish settlements in the Palestinian West Bank on the Israeli side.
I didn’t know what to think or feel when I first saw the Wall. It kind of smacks you into silence. The massive, gray concrete slabs resemble giant domino blocks, only these ones you can't knock down. Menacing watch towers are staggered along the Wall. I looked up at the windows, and wondered if anyone was looking at me in return. And if they were, did they have their hands on a gun? It reminded me of something one might have seen during the Cold War in Russia or Eastern Europe.
All over the world, humans have been building walls for thousands of years. Indeed in our relationships with family, friends, and colleagues, we often build walls. So, maybe we shouldn’t be surprised that we continue to build fences instead of bridges. In some ways, it’s easier to put up a barrier than deal with conflict. A sad testament to the human condition, really.
The Wall may be a separation barrier, but it has also become a massive canvas for social and political expression. Scrawled across the bleak gray concrete are messages of all kind. Some of it art, some just simple, yet poignant messages, but all of it represents a solidarity of sorts.
I wrote down a handful of the messages. Some represent resolve, others a sense of helplessness, while others still, a sense of hope:
We will never give up
It’s not a fence, you stupid
Why is this grey piece of shit still here
Imprisonment is as irrevocable as death
Even Rome fell
Free the people now
When is change gona (sic) come
England loves you (honest)
Fear builds walls
Let the people dance, sing, hope
FORGIVE...it feels better
One day will change
A restaurant next to a portion of the Wall has tried to turn the miserable looking area into a positive, by renaming their restaurant the Wall Lounge, and posting their menu in large letters on the concrete across the street. Others, though, are confronted with it in a more direct way. i walked down one street and the Wall was little more than 20 feet from the front of people’s homes. Once they would have looked across to Jerusalem; now they are forced to look at 26 foot slabs of concrete.
Whenever I think of this Wall, I’m immediately taken to the 1987 speech that U.S. President Ronald Reagan made in front of Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate, in which he called the Berlin Wall a scar, and uttered what became the most famous words from that speech: “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”
I hope that in my lifetime the wall separating Israel from Palestine, which only further divides people, will be torn down.
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5 comments:
Ken, this post is emotional, heartbreaking, and brilliant all at once.
Thank you.
i think of a surrealistic expression to add on this wall. According to our famous belgian painter Magritte i propose "this is not a wall"
I love your blog Ken
thanks
anik of arabelle, i let it to your choice
I agree the 'fence' conveys images that can be discussed ad naseum, but the numbers speak for themselves:
During the 34 months from the beginning of the violence in September 2000 (for which I'm blamed, but that's another story) terrorists carried out 73 attacks in which 293 Israelis were killed and 1950 wounded. However, In the 11 months between the construction of the first fence at the beginning of August 2003 and the end of June 2004, only *three* attacks were successful, and all three occurred in the first half of 2003.
Since construction of the fence began, the number of attacks has declined by more than 90%.
Even the terrorists have addmitted the fence is a deterrent. On November 11, 2006, Islamic Jihad leader Abdallah Ramadan Shalah said on Al-Manar TV the terrorist organizations had every intention of continuing suicide bombing attacks, but that their timing and the possibility of implementing them from the West Bank depended on other factors. “For example,” he said, “there is the separation fence, which is an obstacle to the resistance, and if it were not there the situation would be entirely different.”
Where I think the Israelis need to try much harder is the checkpoints where Palestinians can pass through - In my mind the Israelis had no choice but to put up the fence, but what they now need to do is ensure that people trying to go to the hospital or schools or to visit families aren't help up for hours and hours...
- Geoff G.
Geoff,
I agree that it is more difficult for the terrorist element to conduct attacks against Israel, because of the Wall, but if the Wall is about security, then it's probably time Israel packed up and ended their occupation of Palestine.
Indeed, how foolish of the RAF to fight the Luftwaffe in 1940 when we should have built a bridge to welcome the Wehrmacht.
Those who criticise the security barrier *never* offer a genuine alternative and certainly would not put their own lives on the line. They also ignore the data which clearly demonstrates that - aesthetics notwithstanding - people's lives are being saved. Not only Jews, but Arabs too.
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