“The wall around the Gaza Strip works!” I hear people say. “But do you know how many thousandsdied in Gaza in the past years, and that the army needs a whole division there? Do you want to makeof the West Bank a bigger Gaza, imprisoning two million people behind walls and barbed wire,leaving them bitter and without hope? How many divisions will that require?” exclaimed OrenMedicks, who spoke for Gush Shalom.
Meir Margalit of the Committee Against House Demolition had spoken before him on this coldMonday evening during the demonstration of the anti-Wall Coalition in front of the PrimeMinister’s Residence: “On this day of the funerals after the suicide bombing of yesterdaywhich happened more or less around the corner from here, I call upon the inhabitant of the housebefore we stand: Mr Prime Minister, the wall does not stop terrorism. It invigorates it. Forevery stopped terrorist the wall is creating twelve new ones.”
Opposite the makeshift podium, a replica of the Wall was erected – and during the speechesdemonstrators were busily covering it with graffiti: Wall is War / The Wall = No Peace = NoSecurity = More Hatred / The Wall, Prison for Palestinians – Ghetto for Israelis.
“The Sharon-Netanyahu government is creating walls of poverty and misery – to finance thewalls of concrete” – Sigal Haroush, on behalf of the Democratic Oriental Rainbow.
A religious note, from Yael Nechoushtan, Rabbis for Human Rights.
“Know you not the heart of the stranger? Were you not a stranger in Egypt? – This is what we readthis week in the Synagogue. And what do we see when we go to the Wall? Palestinian farmerswaiting to be allowed to go through a gate so they can cultivate their land – one day just thehumiliation and waiting; another day the gate remaining closed, leaving them nothing but togo home and leave the land untilled.”
“The struggle against the Wall and against the occupation is becoming more and more a commonstruggle of Israelis and Palestinians. In many demonstrations we see Israeli activistsstanding by our side and we very much appreciate it,” said Fadwah Haddad of the PalestinianCommittee Against The Wall in East Jerusalem.
Shai Gorski of Ta’ayush added: “In many places today, Israelis have joined with Palestiniansin protesting against the Wall: outside the US Consulate in East-Jerusalem; in Abu-Dis,where no less than hundred Israelis came in working hours to protest the 8-meter high Wallcutting this town in two; at Budrus village, where the olive groves are dally destroyed bybulldozers; at Dir el-Rasun near Tulkarem, and also at villages in the Bethlehem District.Nearly everywhere it ended the same way: the army using violence and tear gas to disperse therallies.”
Moderator Hulud Badawi called upon participants to show up tomorrow at half past eight at theTel-Aviv Court where 14 Anarchists Against Fences are to be remanded in custody, after havingblocked the street in front the Tel-Aviv Defence Ministry. She also mentioned the fiverefusers spending another year behind bars, who were this morning transferred to a civilianprison, as well as the woman refuser Laura Milo who yesterday joined the new series ofimprisoned refusers – it seems that the gloves are off also for the female refusniks.
“And now, let’s teach Sharon and his ministers and generals what to do with Apartheid Walls”cried Badawi. Hundreds of participants turned to
the cardboard Wall gleefully tearing it into pieces. “With the real Wall it won’t be that easy,but fall it will, like the Berlin Wall! And now please help clear up the mess” were the words withwhich Badawi ended the rally.