B(u)y the wall

Since yesterday and until tomorrow, I am in Hebron for what is called a "PV" or "Placement Visit" for the non initiated. Twice during the program, we are visiting other EAPPI sites. Hebron is my first visit outside Jerusalem. I had a chance to walk around the old city and the market streets yesterday; the grids above your head are real and maybe more than anything else tell a terrible story of violence and ignorance. I willl post pictures later and write more about Hebron.

Today the weather is freezing; rain and wind made it impossible for us to venture outside. So, I'm reading the news on an Israeli site (http://www.ynetnews.com/)
and I come across a rather astonishing link, Buy the Wall, that sells pieces of the Israel/Palestine Separation Barrier: http://www.buythewall.com/. The premisse of the site is that the "wall" is temporary as Israel declared when it started its construction and, once dismantled, it will be a hot item on the market! So, buy it now and secure your investment!

The Separation Barrier was approved by the government of Israel in June 2002 with the explicit purpose of controlling Palestinians entering Israel. However, according to the Israeli Human Rights organization, B'Tselem, "in setting the Barrier's route, Israeli officials almost totally ignored the severe infringement of Palestinian human rights. The route was based on extraneous considerations completely unrelated to the security of Israeli citizens. A major aim in setting the route was de facto annexation of land: when the Barrier is completed, some nine percent of the West Bank, containing 60 settlements, will be situated on the western – the 'Israeli' – side. Another reason for building the Barrier inside the West Bank was to avoid the political price to be paid if the Green Line were set as Israel's border" (http://www.btselem.org/).


Today, approximately 60% of the 740km of the Barrier have been built. The consequences on Palestinians' daily life is dramatic whereas most Israelis will never even see it. Standig by the wall, a feeling of oppression overcomes you. If only the promise of a good sale was also a promise for new unbroken horizons.