The Security Fence

I went on a tour of the security fence today. When Israel began construction of the fence in 2002, it was very controversial. Critics of Israel hailed it as the physical embodiment of what is an Apartheid state. Obviously, these comparisons to Apartheid-era South Africa miss the mark. Arabs in Israel are not second class citizens. In fact, they have many rights that Arabs in Arab countries do not have. Still, there are troubling aspects to the security fence, so I thought it would be worth a look.

I started the day in Gilo, a Jewish community in southern Jerusalem. Gilo is a relatively new community offering an alternative to pricier housing closer to the city center. As such, it attracted many young families trying to get started. Imagine moving to Gilo five years ago, looking out your window and seeing this view, overlooking Bethlehem, a suburb of Jerusalem.



Over the past 12 years since the PLO took control of Bethlehem, the demographics have changed greatly. At the time, Bethlehem had a Christian majority. Due partially to repression of Christian Palestinians, the demographics shifted greatly and Bethlehem is now about 70 percent Muslim.

In October of 2000, snipers in Beit Jala, a neighboring community to Bethlehem, armed with sniper rifles began to shoot up the hillside into homes and even a kindergarten in Gilo. Worse, others from Bethlehem fired mortars into Gilo. Suddenly, a place that had provided families an opportunity to get started was no longer safe.

For that reason, the community of Gilo pressured the government to build a concrete wall to block sniper fire (this is separate from the controversial security fence). The Israeli government, at great cost, responded by putting up concrete walls to block the sniper fire. Instead of their beautiful view of the rolling hills behind Bethlehem, they have a painted mural on a slab of concrete.



I tell this story because this is the backdrop in which Israelis must live. There are good Israelis and bad Israelis, but the majority of Israelis just want to live in peace and security and they are willing to make sacrifices for it. Israel gave up the Sinai for peace with Egypt 25 years ago. About a year ago, the IDF went into the Gaza Strip and transferred families who had lived their for years. It was painful, but it was done for peace.

Yet, the Palestinians have not made the same sacrifices. When they were blowing up buses and cafes every week, the argument was that it was in response to the Israeli "occupation." Yet, when Israel left Gaza, the attacks did not stop. Every day since the withdrawl, Islamic Jihad and other Palestinian groups have shelled Israeli communities with Kassam (and occasionally Ktyusha) rockets. Sorry for digressing, but I think when talking about the security fence, it is important to understand the every day sacrifices that Israelis have made to live in peace with neighbors that have not been so accomodating.

It is with this in mind that the Israeli government decided to erect a security barrier to protect its citizens. Building the fence has been unbelievably tricky, especially in Jerusalem, and looking at the communities around Jerusalem it is easy to see why. There is no clearly defined border between Jewish and Arab communities. Furthermore, it is often hard to distinguish between peaceful Arab communities and those that pose as a threat. That's why despite waves of terrorism, Israel didn't build a fence until very recently.

Here's a picture of the fence. It's very difficult to see, but it's the part of the picture that looks like a road.



I think the interesting thing about it is how unobtrusive it is. Although many refer to it as a wall, about 95 percent of the security barrier is actually a fence. The other five percent is in urban sections.

Here's a picture of what it looks like protecting Jerusalem from Abu Dis.



There's no doubt that these sections of the wall are very ugly. There's also no doubt that all sections of the wall are an inconvenience to Palestinians. Here is a picture of a fence of a checkpoint that I visited at Kalandia. Palestinians wishing to cross a checkpoint must drop off their cars at the initial checkpoint, then take a cab to the other side.



Israel has tried to reduce the inconvenience. No Palestinians were relocated, although some were cut off from their land. In those cases, the fence was either moved (has been done 17 times) or a gate was added to allow access to the land. Still, nobody can deny the inconvenience to the Palestinian people.

Yet, this inconvenience is worth the number of lives saved by the fence. Since the construction of the fence, no suicide bomber has gone through the fence and carried out an attack. This is a stark change from the second intifada, when hundreds of Israelis were dying each year. Those who were fortunate to avoid these attacks had the "inconvenience" of taking cabs instead of buses, avoiding cafes and living in a state of fear. Given the difference between life now in Israel and life before the fence, it is extremely difficult to oppose the wall. While it does inconvenience Palestinians, it saves Israeli lives. Israel has the right to protect itself.