"A land grab" by  Hassan Mahmoud, Star Ledger, 07/17/04


Your editorial "The fence must stay" lacks fairness. The International Court of Justice is the judicial arm of the United Nations, which represents all nations. No country, except Israel, has defied its rulings. Fourteen judges out of 15 ruled that Israel is violating international law by grabbing one-third of the West Bank, where 4 million Palestinians live, and the aquifers, their only source of water. Israel is destroying thousands of Palestinian houses and schools and uprooting tens of thousands of olive trees. The fence is virtually annexing Palestinian land. People are separated from their fields, hospitals and jobs and confined between the fence and Israel proper. In desperation, young Palestinians become easy recruits for the violence that Israel complains about.

Why doesn't Israel build the fence on its borders instead of erecting it inside Palestinian territory? How would Mexicans feel if we built a fence inside Mexico to stop illegal immigration?

-- Hassan Mahmoud, Westfield