Building Walls

I wonder if this wall being built by Saudi Arabia will be met with the same vociferous opposition as this wall being built by Israel. You know, in the "From the Editor" to the February 2004 World Press Review, Alice Chasan suggested the wall was a monument to failure. Fine, so what's wrong with that? Having a big, ugly wall separate Israel from Palestinian territory will result in hurt feelings for the world's idealists. Not having it will result in dead Israelis. Why is this even controversial?

Of course, the big hole in the above argument is that the wall cuts through a lot of the Occupied Territories, thus giving the impression it is a land grap by the Sharon government. This is a valid case, and the main thing that prevents me from being a whole-hearted wall defender. However, even this wall might be better than no wall if the international community is willing to apply the pressures necessary to eventually ensure an full Israeli withdrawal if an Israeli government at the peace table proves reluctant. At the moment, I think the most practical route to peace may lie through increasing Israeli security, allowing the the rise of political forces within Israel who want negotiations. This may not be fair to the Palestinians, but again in practical terms I don't see anything resembling a policy from their leadership that would change the status quo. Arafat seems content to sit atop the territories and ride whatever waves come along, which means other people will direct them where they will.