We are about to experience a worldwide Israel-bash-a-thon. My nose will be rubbed in it right where I live, in Philadelphia, where a week-long series of events will be held. All to educate citizens about the ?Apartheid Wall? being built in Israel.
Apartheid wall? That?s what they call it. I do know of a barrier being constructed roughly along the recognized boundaries between Israel and the West Bank to protect Israelis from terrorist attacks, but I?m not aware of any ?apartheid wall.?
These opponents seek to end construction of the barrier; tear down parts of the wall already built; compensate the Arabs who have been affected by the barrier; and reduce funding for Israel. Philadelphia will be subjected to a full array of activities scheduled from Sunday, November 9, to next Sunday, November16.
This is no affair aimed at reaching a peaceful settlement. It is clearly an attempt to bash Israel. The organizers betray their intentions in a number of ways ? mostly through what they don?t say.
First, they call their national organization Stop the Wall, which operates a slick and obviously expensive Web site called StoptheWall.org. Why don?t they call it Stop the Homicide Bombings or Stop Arafat?s Corruption?
Philadelphians formed a chapter called Stop the Wall-Philadelphia Working Group, which has dubbed its local program, ?Building Bridges, Not Walls.?
If memory serves, a prime minister named Ehud Barak tried to build a bridge, known as a peace plan. Barak offered the West Bank and Gaza Arabs all of Gaza and most of the West Bank. Yasser Arafat could not get control of all religious sites, so he walked out of negotiations in a huff. Then he started a war.
Besides, if Israel built bridges instead of a wall then terrorists would have much easier passage from Jenin to such places as Tel Aviv and Haifa, where they can murder Jews to their heart?s content.
Exploiting such semantics as ?apartheid wall? and ?Berlin wall? is inflammatory. How can anyone dialogue with people who are this confrontational? Also, not all of it can be characterized as a wall. The word ?barrier? is a more accurate term.
Most importantly, they accuse Israel of building the barrier wall to seize land from the Arabs within the West Bank so as to ultimately take over the West Bank. That is open to debate, but they omit one crucial fact: The majority of Israelis wanted the barrier to prevent terrorists from entering Israel proper. Israelis are motivated by the sheer need for survival. They have weathered more than 100 homicide bombings because terrorists had easy access to Haifa, Netanya, Tel Aviv and other Israeli communities. An elaborate barrier like the one now under construction is expected to stop them cold and, therefore, save lives.
However, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon?s government decided to extend the barrier to settlements in the West Bank. Right or wrong, the barrier?s expansion to the settlements would not be happening had Israelis not felt desperate to bar terrorists from their cities.
Perhaps if advocates for the West Bank and Gaza Arabs had expended equal energies into clamoring against terrorist attacks, then maybe there would never have been a need for this barrier in the first place.
Apartheid wall? That?s what they call it. I do know of a barrier being constructed roughly along the recognized boundaries between Israel and the West Bank to protect Israelis from terrorist attacks, but I?m not aware of any ?apartheid wall.?
These opponents seek to end construction of the barrier; tear down parts of the wall already built; compensate the Arabs who have been affected by the barrier; and reduce funding for Israel. Philadelphia will be subjected to a full array of activities scheduled from Sunday, November 9, to next Sunday, November16.
This is no affair aimed at reaching a peaceful settlement. It is clearly an attempt to bash Israel. The organizers betray their intentions in a number of ways ? mostly through what they don?t say.
First, they call their national organization Stop the Wall, which operates a slick and obviously expensive Web site called StoptheWall.org. Why don?t they call it Stop the Homicide Bombings or Stop Arafat?s Corruption?
Philadelphians formed a chapter called Stop the Wall-Philadelphia Working Group, which has dubbed its local program, ?Building Bridges, Not Walls.?
If memory serves, a prime minister named Ehud Barak tried to build a bridge, known as a peace plan. Barak offered the West Bank and Gaza Arabs all of Gaza and most of the West Bank. Yasser Arafat could not get control of all religious sites, so he walked out of negotiations in a huff. Then he started a war.
Besides, if Israel built bridges instead of a wall then terrorists would have much easier passage from Jenin to such places as Tel Aviv and Haifa, where they can murder Jews to their heart?s content.
Exploiting such semantics as ?apartheid wall? and ?Berlin wall? is inflammatory. How can anyone dialogue with people who are this confrontational? Also, not all of it can be characterized as a wall. The word ?barrier? is a more accurate term.
Most importantly, they accuse Israel of building the barrier wall to seize land from the Arabs within the West Bank so as to ultimately take over the West Bank. That is open to debate, but they omit one crucial fact: The majority of Israelis wanted the barrier to prevent terrorists from entering Israel proper. Israelis are motivated by the sheer need for survival. They have weathered more than 100 homicide bombings because terrorists had easy access to Haifa, Netanya, Tel Aviv and other Israeli communities. An elaborate barrier like the one now under construction is expected to stop them cold and, therefore, save lives.
However, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon?s government decided to extend the barrier to settlements in the West Bank. Right or wrong, the barrier?s expansion to the settlements would not be happening had Israelis not felt desperate to bar terrorists from their cities.
Perhaps if advocates for the West Bank and Gaza Arabs had expended equal energies into clamoring against terrorist attacks, then maybe there would never have been a need for this barrier in the first place.