Really Off the Wall

photo by JMcG...Nov 2006

Before I built a wall I'd ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offense.
Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That wants it down.

--Robert Frost, Mending Wall
first published 1914

Some observers call this looming barrier a separation wall; most Israelis term it a security fence, and applauded the first construction efforts in June, 2002. It is hideous in so many ways. (Click to read Chris Hedges' investigation at truthdig.)
By blocking access to Palestinian land, it has compounded misery for farmers and families. Designed to keep out suicide bombers, this barrier has enabled land-grabbing and has become an unsettlingly concrete symbol of a divided nation. The International Court of Justice at the Hague considers it illegal. For the next few weeks, I will be visiting both sides while I try to conduct research into conflict resolution. As a model for the Mexican border fence that the Americans are about to erect, it is abysmal.