Correcting Oppression: Volume 1 - The Wall
**Disclaimer: I want to be clear about my intentions on sharing this information. There is no room for anti-semitism. I believe the policies and information I am going to share are deeply unjust. I also believe they need to be corrected. However, I know there are some Israelis who are working to do just that. I also know that adding Hamas into the mix makes things more complex. That being said, there is a better way. A way that creates breathing room for Palestinians instead of crushing them. Oppression will always create Hamas’s.
Ron Dart put this very well: “Intifada (Uprising) was just one reaction amongst many. When you trace the decades leading up to it, you begin to understand that any oppressed people are going to respond. You can’t have people living for decades in a context which dehumanizes them without reactions. If you put your heel on someone's head and hold it and press it in, there is going to be a reaction. Eventually. Eventually it will come. The tender is there for the fire. Put the spark to tender, it will erupt. That happens in any context. That is not unique to Israel and Palestine. That happens in any place.”
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The Wall.
In 2002, Israel built a separation wall around the West Bank. This wall is a 25 foot concrete barrier that separates the West Bank from the Israeli territory around it. Before this wall was built Palestinians were able to travel freely throughout the Holy Land like they had done for hundreds of years. Many of them have family spread out throughout the land. When the wall went up, Palestinians who lived behind the wall in the West Bank were no longer allowed to travel outside of the West Bank without special permission from Israel (which is sparingly given). This wall separated many families who lived in different cities throughout the land. One of my co-wokers had family who lived in Jerusalem (a short 10 minute drive from Bethlehem), but only got to see them if they came to visit her in the West Bank or if she were able to get a permit from Israel on special holidays. Now, these Palestinians who used to travel all across the Land, sit by the Mediterranean Sea, shop in Jerusalem, and fly out of Tel Aviv are stopped on every side by a 25 foot wall.
It, quite literally, has caged in all of the Palestinians living in the West Bank. Israel says it was built for security reasons after the second intifada (uprising). However, it conveniently includes major chunks of the West Bank into Israeli territory. So, neighborhoods, cities, and many acres of land that were once a part of the West Bank have now been separated by the wall and included into Israeli territory and are no longer accessible to other Palestinians. It would be like America building the wall along the Mexican border but “accidentally” including major chunks of Mexican land on the American side of the wall. This is called a land grab.
Israel says that they built the wall for protective measures, and I do believe that is one of the reasons it was built. However, if it was built only for protection, why would the border line cut deep into the West Bank and include thousands of the very people they are wanting to be protected from?
On top of this, Israelis are free to drive in and out of the West Bank area and Israeli highways sweep throughout the West Bank connecting settlements and Israeli territory. Palestinians however cannot leave from behind the wall unless they have a permit.
This is why many Palestinians and activits use the term “open air prison”. Living behind a massive concrete wall, hemmed in on every side, knowing that you cannot leave unless the nation in power chooses to let you, is not only suffocating and dehumanizing, but also very much like a prison. Every single exit from the West Bank - even the one to Jordan - is overseen and controlled by Israel. There is no way in or out from behind the wall on any side without Israeli permission.
I can tell you from experience, the wall is more than just a protective border, it is a tool of control and (whether intentional or not) deep oppression. No matter who you are, when you live completely trapped behind a 25 foot concrete wall, you feel it.
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“My parents didn’t get along with their neighbors, so they decided to build a fence around our property. The law in New York is very strict. If you want to build a fence around your property you have to hire a surveyor. The reason you have to hire a surveyor is because if your fence deviates, literally, 1⁄4 of one inch on a neighbor's property, they have the right to tear down the fence. So, you have to build that fence right on the property line. Now, if my parents are not getting along with their neighbors and they decide to build a fence that goes around their neighbors swimming pool, garage, and living room, you begin to wonder, are they building the fence because they’re not getting along with their neighbors or are they using the pretext of not getting along with their neighbors to misappropriate their neighbors swimming pool, garage, and living room.”
-Norman Finkelstein