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February 13, 2012
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Menachem Wecker: Business Schools Teach Real Estate Despite Troubled Housing Market
February 10, 2012
Lisa M. Krieger: Man with defibrillator demands access to his own heart's information
David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
February 9, 2012
Laura McMullen: 10 Least Expensive Public Schools for Out-of-State Students
Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
February 7, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
February 6, 2012
Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
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Jewish World Review
July 28, 2003
/ 28 Tamuz, 5763
An ugly idea whose time has come
By
Hillel Halkin
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http://www.jewishworldreview.com |
I'm embarrassed to admit that I haven't been to see The Fence yet. Now that it has become a tourist attraction, with busloads of American Jewish leaders being taken to see it go up, one might think that an ordinary Israeli would want to have a look at it too.
But I don't, not really. It's an ugly idea — a fence several meters high and several hundred kilometers long that cuts our country in two — and it has to be an even uglier sight. Had I been a tourist in Berlin in the old days, I'm sure I wouldn't have wanted to miss the Wall, but I can easily imagine that Berliners felt differently.
There's not much to like about fences. They tell you that you're poorer than you thought. Try running into one when you're on a hike in open country. There you are, with the hills and fields all around you, the sky overhead, the earth beneath your feet — it's all yours — and suddenly there's this nasty bit of wire saying, "Stop! You're mistaken. Just who do you think you are?"
We're Jews in the land of Israel, that's who we are. And we'll be less so with a monster fence running through it.
It will diminish us all, The Fence; Israelis and Palestinians alike. It will tear the land apart. It will prevent normal travel, commerce, and relations. It is a desperate measure, a last resort, and the question is whether it makes any sense.
There are two different scenarios in which it does make sense.
The first involves never finishing it and never using it. The logic behind this is the logic of the old Roman saying: "If you want peace, prepare for war." Just as only an enemy who knows that you're ready and able to fight understands that he shouldn't provoke you, so, it can be claimed, only when the Palestinians know that we have the means to live apart from them will they realize that they mustn't encourage us to do so. The Fence is a threat, a way of saying: "Look, we may like the idea of fences no better than you do, but if you can't offer us acceptable terms, you need to realize that we have an alternative. We'd rather find a way of living together rather than retreating to a barrier. But time and our patience are running out. The Fence is there, it's going up, we can finish it in a few months and get behind it and be reasonably safe from any harm you can do to us - and now make up your minds: Is this what you want?"
It is of course what the Palestinians do not want. The Fence will be a disaster for them, far more than it will be for us. It will cut them off from the Israeli economy and job market, which are their best hope for economic development and capital accumulation. It will cut them off from contact with Israeli society, which is their most promising chance for modernization and democratization. It will cut them off from their own kin, the Palestinians who are Israeli citizens. And it will cut them off from the greater part of Palestine, which is now Israel and for which they profess to long.
The prospect of an Israeli redeployment behind The Fence is a powerful reason for the Palestinians to make concessions that will prevent this from happening - more powerful than all the battalions and brigades that can be thrown into Nablus or Jenin. It's why we need to go on building it at full speed, even if our ultimate goal is to tear it down again.
THE SECOND scenario in which The Fence would make sense is the opposite of the first. It is one in which we do not want to live together with the Palestinians at all, but rather to be separated as much as possible from them and the Arab world, if not permanently and forever, at least for a very long time — as long, say, as East Germany was separated from West Germany between 1948 and 1990, or perhaps even as China was separated from the Mongols for hundred of years after the building of the Great Wall.
There is little doubt that most Israelis today feel this way. After three years of Palestinian violence, the prevalent attitude among Jews in this country is that the less Palestinians have to be seen, heard from and dealt with, the better. No wall that keeps them out can be too high, no obstacle too thick. Let's draw a curtain on the Arab world, turn our backs to it, and face across the sea to Europe and the West: Put that in a petition and you could get a million signatures in a month.
There is something to be said for this. The Middle East has not, in the 125 years since Zionist settlers first tried striking roots in it, been very hospitable to us. It continues to be one of the most backward regions of the world, ruled by despotic regimes and fundamentalist clerics. We Jews, on the other hand, have been, for the past century and a half, at the cutting edge of Western civilization. Backs to the Arab world and faces to the West seems a natural posture for us — at least until that world undergoes basic changes that are not in the offing right now.
And yet think of the price, the diminishment.
The real question we now have to answer — that we have not answered since 1967 — as prepared or unprepared for answering it as we may be, is quite simply this: Do we, assuming a degree of choice exists, want to live with the Palestinians in a Land of Israel or Palestine that is open to us all, or do we want to live without them and in only part of it?
Curiously, as I have said, the immediate logic of both a "yes" and a "no" answer to this question is the same: Get on with The Fence, as awful and ugly as it is, and go on building it as fast as possible. Only as it nears completion will we and the Palestinians have to decide. But the decision, when it comes, will be radical and drastic. Both sides had better start thinking, as hard and deeply as we can, about its implications right now.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in Washington and in the media consider "must reading." Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Hillel Halkin is an Israel-based translator and author, most recently of Across the Sabbath River: In Search of a Lost
Tribe of Israel." (Sales help fund JWR.)
Comment by clicking here.
02/21/03: The immorality of losing
12/17/02: You don't have to be Orthodox to cherish the Sabbath
© 2003, Hillel Halkin
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