January 24, 2004

Israeli Security Wall at Abu Dis

[Bethlehem, West Bank] A few days ago, I had the opportunity to visit the Israeli security wall at Abu Dis. My friend S gave me a good tour of the wall and shared its implications. S told me about 24-hour a day construction that keeps all of the residents from sleeping at night. Sometimes people are unable to return to their homes. S told me of daily shooting and rock-throwing. It's a real mess there now -- not that it will get much better when wall construction is complete.

The wall will separate residents, keep students from getting to school, keep families from getting to the closest medical facilities, and keep people from getting to work. Israel hopes that the security wall will also stop suicide bombers. I have to agree that a 25-ft wall will definitely make it harder for a suicide bomber to get into Israel. (Heck, it might also be hard for birds to get into Israel.) It won't stop every bomber, but I'm sure it will stop some of them. If you don't agree, take a look at the low number of bombers from Gaza, which is fenced. Almost every suicide bomber has come through the West Bank. There have only been a few from Gaza. So I suppose putting people inside prison-like conditions does make it more difficult for them to move.

I think it is perfectly within the rights of Israel to build a wall -- if it is around Israel's internationally-recognized borders. The problem comes when they build it on Palestinian land. If the wall was just about security, it would have been built on Israel's borders. But because the wall is also about land-grabbing, the route of the wall cuts deep through the West Bank. No one can legitimately claim that the wall is just about security.

Abu Dis is a small community between Bethlehem and Jerusalem. I had visited about a year ago (Jan 03, 2003 Abu Dis Wall), but the situation there has changed dramatically. Now the small wall running through the middle of town has been replaced by a 25-ft high monster. The sheer size of the thing is amazing -- and terribly sad.

The wall must fall! There is no way this thing will stand. Will the international community sit by and let it continue with impunity?

For more on the wall, The Israeli Security / Apartheid Wall