The original
The Palestinian response
MIDEAST: BUILDING PEACE ON AN INCOMPLETE WALL
Jerrold Kessel and Pierre Klochendler
JERUSALEM (IPS) – Beneath the towering eight-metre concrete slabs, an army jeep patrols the Israeli side of the ‘security wall’ that cuts through Palestinian territory, dividing the occupied West Bank from Israel.
Suddenly, a soccer ball flies over the wall and lands on the roof of the jeep. The soldiers kick it back. The ball comes flying back. The soldiers get on their mobile phones and several more jeeps arrive. With women soldiers in the role of cheerleaders, a bizarre game kicks off against invisible players – presumably Palestinians on the other side of the wall.
This TV ad for an Israeli cell-phone company has become the talk of the country. For all the jolly impression, Israelis are mostly oblivious to the less- than-cheerful reality on the other side of the wall.
Israeli political cartoonist Amos Biderman draws starkly what his countrymen can’t see, choose not to see: in his cartoon, the ball kicked by the soldiers crashes over the wall into a large group of Palestinians – men, women and children – lining up at a checkpoint behind barbed wires before being searched by Israeli soldiers, guns at the ready. Back on the Israeli side, the soccer-playing soldiers chant, “Everything’s Cool”.
“Israelis aren’t paying any price for the injustice of occupation,” says columnist Gideon Levy, a vigorous critic of Israeli policy. “Life in Israel is just peachy. Cafes are bustling. Restaurants are packed. People are vacationing. Who wants to think about peace, negotiations, withdrawals – the ‘price’ we might have to pay. The summer of 2009 is wonderful. Why change anything?”
Israelis take the security wall for granted. Most believe it essential – and effective – in keeping bombers out of their cities and separating the Palestinians physically from them.
Not unexpectedly the Palestinians have a different read on the wall. Pure and simple, they want it demolished. According to a report in the Tel Aviv tabloid Ma’ariv, they have asked the U.S. to press Israel to tear it down, the chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat reportedly arguing that since the security situation in the West Bank has improved dramatically, Palestinian attacks against Israeli civilians have abated.
Thanks Todd!
