By approving the so-called “security wall”, the Israeli Cabinet has made it clear to the world that it cares nothing for human rights, international law and accepted norms, and the plight of the Palestinian people in the occupied territories.
It has also made it clear that it has no interest in the long-term security of the Israeli people themselves, be they Jews or Arab Christians and Muslims. For by separating the two peoples in such a crude and contemptible manner, the Cabinet of Ariel Sharon has made a peace deal between Palestinians and the Israelis more unlikely than ever.
The Israelis acknowledge only that it will “cause problems” for the Palestinians, but add that they had “no choice.” Of course, “no choice” really means “no choice when looked at from an extremist perspective”, when looked at without any kind of consideration for Palestinian suffering, when looked at without even a hint of sympathy for the fact that whole communities will be torn apart. The Palestinians are to be kept out of sight by a wall as though they were animals inhabiting a zoo.
This is an extension of the warped Zionist mentality which has defined Israeli political thinking in the Jewish state since it was created in 1948, to the effect that Israeli society is a little haven of democracy and civilization surrounded by barbarians desperate to destroy it.
Israel began building the barrier, an electronic fence topped with razor wire in some places and a concrete wall in others, in June 2002. It said the aim was to seal out Palestinian suicide bombers who have struck dozens of times during an uprising for independence that began in September 2000.
But the real aim of the wall is to introduce a system of discrimination that amounts to apartheid by having as many Jews as possible inside the fence and as few Arabs as possible. Washington says the barrier runs counter to US goals in the region and the international community fears the barrier will create a de facto border that includes West Bank land which Israel occupied in the 1967 Middle East war.
A report compiled for the United Nations and released on Tuesday called it “an unlawful act of annexation” which would cut off tens of thousands of Palestinians. The US has even threatened to reduce $9 billion worth of loan guarantees to Israel because of the route charted for the barrier. Washington sees it as a further impediment to the road map.
The question now, as ever, is whether the US will really embrace its trumpeted role as “honest broker” and put its money where its mouth is.
