http://www.counterpunch.com/gordon11062003.html

CounterPunch
November 6, 2003

Silence in the Face of Israeli Apartheid
Captives Behind Sharon's Wall

By NEVE GORDON

Jerusalem

As the government of the Jewish state forces the Palestinians in 
ghettos, history must be turning in its grave. Qalqiliya, a city of 
45,000, has been surrounded by a concrete wall and only those 
who are granted permits by the Civil Administration can enter and 
exit the city's single gate.

Along the West Bank's north western border, an additional 12,000 
people are now living in enclaves between the wall and the pre-1967 
border. They too have become captives; yet the so-called security 
wall does not separate these Palestinian residents from Jewish 
Israelis, but rather from their brethren in the West Bank.

After placing them on small "islands," Israel is now "encouraging" 
them to leave their ancestral homes by undermining their 
infrastructure of existence. The goal, so it seems, is to annex the 
land uninhabited.

More recently, another 15-km of the wall were approved to be built 
in the midst of East Jerusalem. Ten minutes drive from my 
Jerusalem apartment, parts of this concrete wall wind between 
houses in the Abu Dis neighborhood. A new Berlin wall in the 
making, only this time in the holy city.

This wall will ultimately place approximately 35,000 Palestinians in 
a ghetto. Not only will they be isolated from their source of 
livelihood, but the sick will not be able to reach hospitals and the 
children will not be able to reach schools. Even the cemeteries will 
be out of bounds.

Think about it, once this Apartheid wall is completed, many 
Palestinian parents will be living on one side while their adult 
children will be living on the other. Families will be torn apart.

The wall dividing East Jerusalem clearly exposes Israel's lie, 
revealing that security is not the government's real objective. To put 
it simply, how will a wall that separates between Palestinian 
communities ensure the security of Jewish Israelis?

The facts on the ground lay bare that the Apartheid wall, which was 
ostensibly built to satisfy security needs, is in fact being used as 
an extremely efficient weapon of dispossession and abuse. 
Rhetoric aside, the Palestinians' land is being stolen, basic rights 
to freedom of movement and livelihood are systematically violated, 
and the rights to education, health and even burial are contravened. 
The instruments of violation are not only guns, tanks and airplanes, 
but Caterpillar bulldozers and Fiat tractors.

If the wall is completed, then 50 percent of the West Bank will be 
annexed to Israel, and there will be no possibility of creating a 
viable Palestinian state. Moreover, it will not solve Israel's security 
problems, but rather exacerbate them. By engendering extreme 
pressure on the Palestinian people, who are already living under 
dire circumstances, it fosters their sense that there are no 
prospects for the future, thus motivating people to join extremist 
groups like the Hamas and Islamic Jihad; indeed, the wall only 
increases the hatred towards the occupiers and promotes bloody 
attacks.

What baffles the Israeli peace camp is the international silence. A 
state among nations is placing thousands of people in ghettoes, 
forcing them to live in subhuman conditions, and not even a 
murmur of protest can be heard from the world leaders.

On November 9th, these international leaders have a unique 
opportunity to raise their voice against the Apartheid wall and 36 
years of Israeli occupation. On this day, the world will be 
commemorating the 14th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall 
and the 65th anniversary of "Kristallnacht," the state orchestrated 
pogrom against Jews in Nazi Germany.

The international leaders should tell Prime Minister Sharon that at 
this historical moment he has an option between walls and ethnic 
cleansing, on the one hand, and open borders and freedom, on the 
other. They should also let him know, in unequivocal terms, that 
they will use all necessary means to ensure that Israel will choose 
the latter.

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Neve Gordon teaches politics and human rights at Ben-Gurion 
University and can be reached at ngordon@bgumail.bgu.ac.il