In the occupied territories of the West Bank, the Israeli government is constructing a wall which will stretch to more than 400 miles long.
Although Israel and its supporters refer to the Wall as a “security fence,” it is an attempt to permanently occupy Palestinian land and to prevent future possibility of a Palestinian state.
The wall doesn’t follow the internationally recognized Green Line border of 1967; it cuts into Palestinian territory and, while it is still in construction, the proposal intends to incorporate 98 percent of the Jew only settlements throughout the West Bank, leaving the Palestinians trapped inside the Wall on only 12 percent of historic Palestine.
Another 16 percent of Palestinians living in the West Bank will find themselves located outside the wall due to its path and will be living amongst the same Jew-only settlements which the wall was intended to “separate” them from.
As Americans whose tax dollars go to Israel by the billions yearly to support military occupation of Palestine, we should be aware of the human rights violations practiced by the Israeli policies.
Palestinians are denied many things:
The freedom of religion (the wall makes the Holy City and Rachael’s Tomb, sites sacred to both Jews and Palestinians, inaccessible to Palestinians)
The right to work (the wall and Israeli closures of cities prevent residents from traveling for employment — in 2000 Palestinian unemployment was 18 percent, in 2004 it is 80 percent)
The right to education (the wall is keeping many students who don’t live in the same town as their school from going to class)
The right to healthcare (UNWRA hospital has been made inaccessible to refugees camps in the Northern West Bank)
The right to property (farmers and families near the wall are deprived of their land which is being isolated or razed)
The freedom of movement (Israeli soldiers determine who and when someone is permitted to cross the gate of the wall).
It is clear the wall is not a mechanism of defense; it is part of a racist policy which imprisons Palestinians on their own land in order for Jews from around the world to have a free place to live.
Attacks from both sides are still occurring, and with Palestinians claiming the occupation as the reason for their attacks and Israel claiming those attacks are the reasons for their occupation, it is clear to me the status quo is a path to more destruction.
We represent a country that embraces diversity and tolerance; how can we stay silent as billions of our dollars support a country that oppresses people because of their nationality?
How can we encourage tolerance and freedom of religion in Iraq and Iran when we support Israel, which discriminates against non-Jews under their rule?
It is time we reconsider our government’s unbalanced support of Israel and encourage it to be a more effective broker of peace in the region by helping and criticizing both sides equally.
No matter how bad politicians and zealots try to paint this picture of Jews vs. Muslims (there are Christian Palestinians) or Good vs. Evil, we need to realize this is a conflict between two people on one land, and there are rational reasons to why Palestinians are resisting the Israeli occupation.
Palestinians have a claim on the land of which they are the indigenous people. We can’t stand silently as the land is slowly cleansed of them so that some Israelis can have a Jew-only State.
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