The Wall of Separation

June 24, 2003 10:03 AM

Israel calls it a Separation Fence. Others refer to it as the Apartheid Wall. Whatever one calls it, and however one justifies it, there is no doubt that this barrier swoops many kilometers into the West Bank, claiming valuable water sources and arable land for Israeli settlers, destroying Palestinian homes and communities in the process.
posted by Ty Webb (18 comments total)

Numbers 32:7
"And wherefore discourage ye the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the LORD hath given them?"
posted by the fire you left me at 10:17 AM on June 24, 2003

Here's a quite interesting story about Hamas which doesn't warrant an FPP but can easily be thrown away on a thread most likely heading for the breakers yard. Essentially its about the role they fill in the community, and casts them in quite a positive light, however, having thought about it, it did remind me a bit of the Godfather. What do others think?
posted by biffa at 10:30 AM on June 24, 2003

See also The Map and the Fence from the NY Review of Books.
posted by mookieproof at 10:30 AM on June 24, 2003

This fence won't stop any terrorists, and Israel knows it. So what is their purpose other than as an 'apartheid fense'?
posted by Space Coyote at 10:38 AM on June 24, 2003

I wil avoid any controversy regarding the wall, for or against, but merely point out that Hamas has long been known to curry favor by doling out goodies--with money coming from Saudi Arabia, Syria and --Yes: Freance (via charities that fund terror but which France does nothing about), and the arabs like this because what is meant to be their governing body--Arafat and PA--steals the money...
Hamas has killed not only many Israelis but some Amricans and has vowed to take back Palestine (ie, all of what is now Israel). thus, the Godfather an apt parallel, like Gotti and his fireworks etc in Little Italy. Older men with candy!
posted by Postroad at 10:41 AM on June 24, 2003

This fence won't stop any terrorists, and Israel knows it.

For what it's worth...

"A fence constructed around the entire Gaza Strip in 1994 has proved valuable. According to Avi Dichter, head of the Shin Bet, Israel's domestic-security agency, not one suicide bomber has entered Israel from the Gaza Strip since the current uprising began."
posted by Armitage Shanks at 10:44 AM on June 24, 2003

I bet there weren't too many suicide bombers coming over from West Berlin after the wall was erected, either.

This all blows.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 10:57 AM on June 24, 2003

Numbers 32:7
"And wherefore discourage ye the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the LORD hath given them?"

Breeders 3:7
"I just wanna get along
I just wanna get along
I just wanna get along."
posted by ZenMasterThis at 10:59 AM on June 24, 2003

I recently returned from a visit to Israel/Palestine, and saw the wall for myself, which a steady stream of Palestinian workers, including elderly men and women, were forced to climb to get to and from work, moving from one Palestinian neighborhood to another which had been bisected by this illegal barrier. An Israeli soldier stood a few yards off, looking bored. If the wall was built for security, why were these people not being ID'd? Any one of them could have potentially been strapped with dynamite. The answer is that the wall has very little to do with Israeli security, and very much to do with consolidating and making permanent Israeli control over the occupied territories, in blatant contravention of international law, and with serving as a physical reminder to all Palestinians that Israel controls them. In fact, much of the Israeli system is specifically designed to remind Palestinians that they are second-class citizens in their own homeland. Yes, the irony is rich.
posted by Ty Webb at 11:14 AM on June 24, 2003

Biffa: the Guardian, usually anti-Israel, is of course being plain silly when it claims that Hamas will in the futre seek some other answser but for now a cease fire might do. Not only have they gone on record as wanting to detraoy Israel, they have used the game, as has Arafat, of a temporary cessation for a small gain, and then a new beginning. I had a small email exchange with hamas when it was possible to get to their site, and they likened themselves (a letter to me) to the French underground fighting the Germans. The problem with this, I wrote back, is that France only got its country back through A PEACE TREATY when the Germans were militarily defeated.
For my earlier ref to France and funing of Hamas, see this current issue of Time Magazine.
posted by Postroad at 11:15 AM on June 24, 2003

This takes me back to my post in February about the Great Hedge, 1500 miles long, erected by the British to help control / subjugate the people of India 150 years ago.

As Robert Frost wrote, "Something there is that doesn't love a wall."
posted by LeLiLo at 11:19 AM on June 24, 2003

(Can't wait to see the explosion when Parisparasmus gets in here....)
posted by aacheson at 11:27 AM on June 24, 2003

It's too bad they didn't just build a wall around the whole damned country and let them live out the extremities of their seething, infinite hate.

Futile. Futile. Futile.
posted by xmutex at 11:51 AM on June 24, 2003

Xmutex, HEAR HEAR.
I totally agree. That place is hopeless and it's useless to try anymore. Both sides are equally intractable and are unwilling to do anything and are ust as violent and hate filled as the other. Both carry all the blame. It's an awful situation, but neither side has the balls to say "hmmm, perhaps we have to stop the hating to reach peace" because too much blood has been shed and the hate and distrust is too ingrained in their societies. Too many people on both sides have died to say "whoops, it's all in vain."

The wall is there to make the Israelis feel good by "doing something" and has the added bonus of screwing with the Palestinians and the Palestianians deserve it because they keep killing people-but they keep killing people because of shit Israel does like this wall. It just goes around and around and around.

Futile Futile Futile.
posted by aacheson at 1:39 PM on June 24, 2003

A genuine fence built on the '67 borders is probably a good idea. However this fence is designed to take more land and water, and will only breed more hatred. Separation is not a bad idea in concept, the 2 have proved that they cannot live together at the present time. However give a couple of years of slow growth of business connections, combined with a lack of terror, and you might have something. However when the separation is combined with taking MORE land and resources, the end result will be disastrous. People can be very ingenious when it comes to destruction of others.

If every Israeli soldier currently guarding settlements built on stolen land were to police a border built on the '67 lines, there would be one soldier every 4 feet.
posted by cell divide at 2:32 PM on June 24, 2003

I say they should both wipe each other out in a blaze. Might as well save them the trouble of trying to kill each other one by one. Is my logic truly flawed? Is there some shining beacon of hope that can save these people? Of course im being insensitive. No more insensitive than a suicide bomber blowing himself up over weak bullshit.
posted by Keyser Soze at 12:27 AM on June 25, 2003

No more insensitive than a suicide bomber blowing himself up over weak bullshit.

Yeah, weak bullshit like having to watch your family's home be bulldozed to make room for a new Israeli settlement.
posted by Ty Webb at 8:35 AM on June 25, 2003

yeah... like i said, bullshit.
posted by Keyser Soze at 3:09 AM on June 28, 2003