I found out that NPR did a four part series titled "Israel's Barrier" that covers the building of the wall from both the Israeli and Palestinian perspective. My natural liberal leaning's had me wondering how on Earth anyone could justify building of this wall, but reading about the fear Israeli settlers go through made me much more sympathetic to their plight. One story in particular helped me to better understand someone's motivation for wanting this seperation barrier. It is what came to be known as the Passover Massacre that happened on March 27, 2002. On that day a Hamas member slipped past security and walked into a crowded dinning hall in which a Passover Seder was being held. Thirty people were killed and more then one hundred wounded.
This incident was the impetus for then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to activate 20,000 Israeli soldiers and launch Operation Defensive Shield. The story interviews Dr. Zvi Saks who is a former IDF combact medic who was on duty at Laniado hospital that evening. The article uses the city of Netyana, who had previously been attacked fifteen times by sucide bombers before the wall had been constructed, as an example of why it is so important to have a barrier. According to the Israeli government, the number of suicide bombings have been reduced by 90% since the construction of the wall.
I can not argue that a reasonible person should or should not support building a wall to keep themselves safe. When the enemy, like Hamas, insists on attacking innocent civillians for their own political gain, a wall seems like a very acceptable non-lethal defense. If anything, the wall is a grand statement to all that Israel can and will protect their people from just these types of attacks. While politicians argue back and forth about the merits of a two state solution, something had to be done to ensure the safetly of innocent civilians.
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ReplyDeleteThe plight that Israelis (and the Palestinians) live with is one that prompts us to have both sympathy and empathy for them. However, the building of the wall should not be justified simply as "security" wall because of the following:
ReplyDeletea) Any separation wall, no matter for what purpose, is a barrier and a connector or solution. Obviously, building the wall is indicative of failures or lack of trial of various other possible solutions.
b) Israeli can claim that it has reduced suicide bombing to 90% by building the wall but what it does not tell is that it annexes more than 50% of already plundered Palestinian land in and around the West Bank.
c) Reducing the casualties of suicide bombers to 90% one the Israeli side is one thing (if at all it is true), but what about the casualties brought about by the wall it self. Building the wall demolishes Palestinian homes, steals land from Palestinians, divides villages, people and cities, and destroys Palestinians agriculture.
http://www.vtjp.org/background/wallreport8.htm
I also tend to be sympathetic towards the Israelis when I read about the fear that they go through whenever they are in a marketplace or a crowded area. The fear is trully psychologically damaging and can transfer into many different aspects of life. I'm a critic of the wall, but since our discussions in class I've wondered if the wall had been built with more thought and timing... could it have made life easier. The answer is probably yes and no. But if the wall had been built on the actual boarders of the west bank, and if the Israeli Government had halted west bank settlements; then maybe this wall could have been somewhat feasable. The current problem is not just the wall, but the poor planning of the wall, the settlements that came after, and terribly positioned checkpoints that have hampered Palestinian business. Sadly, the Palestinians are some of the few people who didn't feel the effects of the recent recession, because their economy was hurting so badly that it was like mosquito landing on an already broken arm.
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