Apartheid Barrier, Aref Assaf, Star Ledger, July 24, 2004


I am truly troubled by your support for the Israeli apartheid barrier.

Only continued Palestinian resistance and collective world condemnation will ensure the barrier remains a temporary
obstacle to peace and not a permanent boundary.
Doubtless the barrier is pregnant with territorial ambitions. It is Sharon’s ultimate design to fashion
a so called Palestine state-devoid of territorial contiguity, economic viability and true sovereignty.
Granted, Israel does have the right and indeed the obligation to protect its proper and also its citizens.
But if it must build a wall to prevent Palestinian attacks, then it must do so on its lands and not deep into
Occupied Palestinian territory. Imagine if the US were, in an attempt to curtail illegal immigration or drug trafficking from Mexico,
we build a wall 60 or so miles deep into Mexican territory! Would such an action be legal and acceptable to the Mexicans?
The World Court made one critical affirmation of fact which you chose to ignore: Israel is a military occupying power and thus must abide by international law. If it chooses to continue to rule five million Palestinians against their will, then it must bear the brunt not only of the occupied but of the world community. By aiming to impose unilateral solutions on the Palestinians by force, all the while contravening international law, Israel closes itself off in a political isolation that can only grow. Consequently, America’s continued support for Israel will exposes our double-standard policy when dealing with rouge states.

Israel’s physical and moral salvation will be possible only when it ends its military occupation of Palestinian lands.

Respectfully,



Aref Assaf