Dividing Lives
Der Spiegel, by way of Salon, examines the divisions further drawn by Israel’s security barrier, between the Israeli and Palestinian people:
Palestinians and Israelis living in the shadow of the security wall now know firsthand what it’s like to live in a divided country. Here, along the historic 1948 Israeli border, the so-called green line, the security wall has destroyed bonds that had been nurtured for years, places where Israeli and Palestinian cities had grown together. There is little evidence here of the much-touted prospects for peace that filled diplomatic rhetoric after the death of longtime Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in November. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak may view Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as a potential herald of peace, Sharon may release Palestinian prisoners, and Arafat’s successor, Mahmoud Abbas, may call for an end to violence, but there is little sense of a vision of successful cooperation between two independent states here along the border.
90% reduction in terrorism and hundreds of saved lives is just not as fascinating to the Euros as is the prospect of warm fuzzies delayed or denied. Oh tragedy!
Dear, ABIW: Please pick a handle and stick with it. Thanks.
ABIW…
Yeah, I agree with you. I remember all the ISM tools going: “The wall will not bring security, it will only bring worse terror attacks.”
Look, if you want to learn about sneaking into Ramallah and f’ing up IDF security operations…turn to ISM for advice. If you want to learn about keeping your populations’ heads on their torsos, ask your generals.
ABIW,
the wall is an illusion. The bombs and bombers usually came through the regular checkpoints. The big reduction in terrorism, rather Jew-killing, can be attributed to the hellfire missile and elite army/navy units ‘taking out’ the terrorist ringleaders, and forcing the other ‘brains’ behind the losers into hiding by making them worry more about defense than offense, er Jew-killing.
The wall is good only if you are a fake leftist (most of the left actually) who wants the Arabs to sit in their own juice. Or you might be one of those history deniers that will claim that this wall is differentl than all the other walls man has built over time. Or you are a blind Sharon supporter that believes that he knows what’s best for Israel.
I say tear down the wall…
Gee, I thought it was because Palestinians are blowing up Jewish women and children. What ever happened to the idea of fences making good neighbors.. I am so sick of all you apologists out there, making excuses why Israel is slowly being eroded away. Are we not pulling out of the “territories”. Why are they still blowing themselves up??
josh
While it’s true the wall alone cannot stop terrorism, it’s incorrect to state it’s ineffective. The fact is that in areas where the wall exists, terrorism has gone down drastically, and terrorist activities have been channeled into areas where the wall does not exist. For example, a lot of the attempts to cross into Israel from the WB used to be in the Kalkilya region; nowadays, the majority of the attempts are in the southern region where the wall has not been completed