Mr Olmert: Tear down that wall!

"I think the wall is a problem...it is very difficult to develop confidence between the Palestinians and Israel. with a wall snaking through the West Bank." -- President Bush, July 25, 2003

"It's when the fence begins to intrude on land that is not on the Israeli side of the Green Line or starts to intrude in a way that makes it more difficult for us to make the case for a viable Palestinian state ... it is appropriate for us to say to our Israeli friends we have a problem here," -- Secretary of State Colin Powell Colin Powell

"The green line is more than five kilometres from here," he said. "Why is the wall only 40 metres from our houses? Why do they need to build it so close?"

"The people of Mas'ha understand the message of the colonial security forces: 'surrender, call off the protests, tell the solidarity activists to go home, and we'll let you live, sort of ..'" -- You Belong in the Past

"We believe this wall will force people to move out to nearby villages or emigrate to Jordan." -- Letter from Qalqiliya

"There is only one thing I can do. I will buy a tent and move with my wife to live the other side of the fence among my trees," he said.
"I don't know if the Israelis will let me do it. They certainly won't let me build a house. But perhaps I can live in a tent."

"[The Military order] informed us we had to meet an Israeli army officer the next week and follow him to see the route of the wall. Hundreds of people turned out. We were shocked, very shocked, when we saw where it was going. People burst into tears. Some fainted." -- Jayyous Resident as reported in the Guardian

Susan,

And terror attacks in Israel are down 90% since 2002 when the wall's construction began. I guess I'd feel bad at having to put a dog down, but if that dog was attacking people...

The fact that the effect of the wall is onerous on the Palestinian people is an unfortunate side effect of the fact that the Palestinian people shelter, support, and supply those who attack within Israel. The main reason the Palestinians get the short end of that stick is that they're not as powerful as the Israelis, and that's not the Israelis' fault: it's because the Arab world has been content to have the drum of the Palestinian cause to beat for the last 4 decades.

"And terror attacks in Israel are down 90% since 2002 when the wall's construction began. I guess I'd feel bad at having to put a dog down, but if that dog was attacking people..."

The wall is not protecting Israeli citizens inside Israel; it is instead protecting Israel’s occupation, illegal colonies and ongoing colonization of Palestinian land. If Israel were truly interested in its security it would (i) abide by international law and withdraw completely from the territories it occupied in 1967 and/or (2) build the wall on its 1967 pre-occupation border, rather than in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The Green Line is only 320 km in length, whereas the wall is projected to be 752-786 km, more than twice the length of the Green Line. The wall, designed to incorporate Israel’s colonies into Israel, will therefore require more security measures and provide more opportunity for breaching the wall.

Israel has long used the façade of “security” for the continued colonization of Palestinian land, and the notion of a “security” wall neatly fits into Israel’s long-term goal of annexing as much Palestinian land as possible with as few Palestinians as possible.

“The formula for the parameters of unilateral solution are: To maximize the number of Jews; minimize the number of Palestinians; not to withdraw to the 1967 border and not to divide Jerusalem.”
– Ehud Olmert, Israel’s Deputy Prime Minister
December, 2003

If Israel needs a wall they should build it on the "original borders" the UN gave them. ..that is the only "legal" land they have.

I can just imagine if their "bible deed" had been to some portion of North America, and the UN had given them..say South Carolina or Texas..Israel would be but a forgotten footnote in history by now if they had instituted their Greater Israel delusion here...why should anyone expect the Arabs to feel any different about their land.

Sadly I don't expect Israel to ever get serious about peace, the conflict is too profitable for them..and our own military industrial complex...and our congress...and assorted special interest and fund raising groups. And they know that without the US to strong arm other goverments for them they would never make it on their own economically because they have pissed off and stiffed every neighbor they have in the ME...and most of the rest of the world I might add.

Since 1948 the Jews have refused to live lawfully. Attacks being lessened have absolutely nothing to do with the wall. In fact, one can say that "even in the face of the provocation iconified by the construction of that wall, violence has been decreased. Certainly its decreased cannot be attributed to this construct. Indeed, it has been the institution of a general ceasefire by Hamas & Fatah that has made Israel safer."

Rick, you may wholeheartedly believe that Israel is being victimized by the Palestinians. Facts on the other side of the issues say otherwise. If you were to read the UN records on the subject, you'd find the truth is not what you think it is. Israel can not be considered a victim unless and until they begin to treat the residents of Palestine as Iran treats Turkey, or at least as we treat citizens of Canada. If they would do just that, and Palestine's citizens were to continue bombing Israel, then you'd be justified in crying for them.

See, Israel has turned the land it sits upon into a battlefield. When it started exterminating Palestinians and stealing their land, they declared war upon them. No Palestinian was safe, and none of them had an authority to protect them or adjudicate for them. Now, this so-called country is fortunate that no outside resistance has formed to focus a larger force upon them.

Yet instead of acting as a nation wanting peace, they continue to act as looters in an almost-60 year riot, supported, supplied and armed by the US.

Until something serious is done to make Israel straighten p and fly right, chaos will reign in Palestine, and innocent children of Palestine will be murdered and maimed instead of educated and protected.

The next time you think of those Jews as victims, consider yourself a citizen of any of the 13 original colonies of this country, reading a newspaper geared toward the British citizenry. Imagine what it would say about the militias that struck terror into their hearts of the British armies as they fought for their independence: would not these foreigners be talking about terrorist groups, insurgents and the slaughter of "His Majesty's loyal and decent soldiers, governors and Citizens of the Crown"?

And who would be the ones being wronged?

The United States government, especially the State & Treasury departments, should recognize how far we have strayed from this country's heritage of ideals, and work feverishly to realign to them. What is it that causes our government to actively work to overthrow and cancel the democratic choices of a people. What is so evil and wrong with these people that we are standing by the mob that has been rioting and looting on their property for 58 years? What have the citizens of Palestine done to us that warrants our funding of this riot?

Are we the final authority in the definition of what a democracy is? Are we in some nightmare in which the only right way to vote is the way we say to vote? If they don't vote that way, how does this justify locking these people in a closet and starving them?

Hamas is the official majority party in the Palestinian government. They were chosen because of their reputation for taking care of the people better than Fatah was, and not allowing corruption to eat more and more of the foreign aid the nation received. We all know that this crap about them being listed as a terrorist organization is a subterfuge which can be dealt with by taking the name of the organization off of that list. It's been done for the IRA, so it can be done for Hamas.

As for changing their policies and beliefs, that is an insult to all the people who have lost their lives, homes and families during the past 68 years of terror inflicted upon them by the Jews. With none of their issues even respected as legitimate, why should they capitulate? We don't renounce violence against anyone, so why should they? As long as Israel attacks them and lives on the lands of Palestine, why should Palestine "acknowledge" Israel's "right to exist"? In truth, Israel has no right to exist where it is, except for what was granted to them when Palestine agreed to share its land with them. When the Jews reneged on the initial vote about the partitioning, they essentially declared war on Palestine.

If any nation should be acknowledged as having a right to exist, it should be PALESTINE!!!

Those parts of the US government that deal with foreign aid should, by reducing the amount of aid going to Israel, recalibrate these aid packages to make them equivalent, so that both states will eventually be equal in services and resources. And, Israel's aid should be cut further from this new level until it has removed its apartheid nature and behaviors. Discrimination against race is illegal in our country; it should be illegal in any country that we have such an intimate relationship with. That way, if we're lucky, we may yet get both sides of this issue to realize that living together in harmony there is just as possible as it is here.

We need to get John Bolton involved in these negotiations immediately!

If we don't, peace is likely to break out at a most inopportune time. After all, we have mid-term elections to errrrr fight.

BTW, has it struck anyone as ironic that Israel has built ghettos and walled itself inside? I know the walls are spun as restricting Palestinians, but in a confined space, being walled in is a lot like being walled out.

"And terror attacks in Israel are down 90% since 2002 when the wall's construction began. I guess I'd feel bad at having to put a dog down, but if that dog was attacking people..."

Dog??? Thats the kind of rabid Hitler-like hatred that keeps this the killing alive. Talking about dogs, your're one sick puppy.

Want to talk about how many Israelis have died since 2000 as opposed to how many Palestinians???

Rick, take your racist 'dog' trash talk somewhere else. Palestinians are people, people whose farms and villages are being cut off by an illegal intrusion imposed by force. And funded by U.S. tax dollars.