A wall, otherwise known as a ‘barrier’ or ‘fence’, is used solely for a purpose. The purpose is to split, separate or segregate two regions from each other.

When one looks back through modern history the wall that first comes to mind is probably the Berlin Wall. Erected in the year 1961 by the East German government, it was built as a direct effect of the Cold War. However, if one is to look even further, another wall comes to mind. It is one of our world’s Seven Wonders, namely the Great Wall of China. The Great Wall of China was built in the year 770 BC by the Zhou dynasty, to stop insurgents coming from the North of the country. Finally, if one looks at the world today, and searches for a monumental wall intended to achieve the purpose of separation, Israel is the place to find it. This wall has been given the name the ‘Apartheid Wall’ by its victims. In this paper I will try to compare Israel’s ‘Apartheid Wall’ with its two predecessors, showing their differences and similarities, and then I will ultimately examine their tragic or glorified fate. In the case of the ‘Apartheid Wall’, time will still have to tell.

The Berlin Wall was built by the East German government as a preventive measure, due to more than 2.6 million East Germans escaping to West Berlin or West Germany from the years 1949 to 1961. The main purpose served by the Berlin Wall in this case, was to hinder or even stop the flow of people. There were other reasons why the Berlin Wall was built, but this remained the underlying one.

Israel has been engaged in suppressing a four year long civil Palestinian uprising against a 37-year-old military occupation. The ‘Apartheid Wall’ that it has now built, is also meant to hinder the flow of people. In this case, Israel created a barrier to stop or minimize the flow of indigenous Palestinians travelling from the West Bank to Israel proper. Palestinian people have the natural inalienable human right, as do all humans, to travel freely within the land they inhabit. There are many reasons why free movement is so vital and crucial to everyday Palestinian life: to mention a few, Palestinians travel to Israel for work, education, communication, trade and to interact with their fellow Palestinians, and also with Israelis, living in Israel.

There is one point of difference between these two walls. The Berlin Wall was built as a consequence of the Cold War, during which the United States of America and the Soviet Union, two fairly symmetrical world powers, were at conflict. According to CIA files Israel’s army is ranked as the 9^th most powerful army in the world (other military intelligence sources rank it even higher). The much-renowned Palestinian “army” on the other hand, is as much a threat to Israel as a fairy tale is. This Intifada is best characterized as a popular uprising involving stones thrown at tanks for the sake of freedom. Yet somehow despite this imbalance of power, Israel has still insisted on creating a monumental structure, contrary to world opinion. According to a recent study made by MIFTAH, the ‘Apartheid Wall’ will stretch a projected full length of 730 km through the West Bank over occupied, confiscated and ghettoised land, giving it the name it so deserves.  

The first sections of the Great Wall of China were built by the Zhou dynasty to protect the southern provinces of China from northern insurgents. The purpose served here was purely defensive, and also a sign of the power of the Emperor Qin Shi Huang (also known as the First Emperor). Israel is building its wall on exactly the same premises, giving it the name the ‘Security Barrier’.  Unlike the first Intifada, the current Intifada has been more violent, with its share of suicide bombings, giving rise to the Israeli claim that this wall was built in reaction to Palestinian “terror.” In this respect, the walls are very similar in their purpose. Furthermore, this wall stands as a symbol of strength and intimidation vis-à-vis the Palestinian people, shattering any hopes for the emergence of a viable Palestinian state, and any lasting reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians.

However, there is one very distinct difference between these two walls. The difference lies in the circumstances under which they were built. The Zhou dynasty built this wall within its own territory as defensive measure against unprovoked attacks from pillaging and plundering foreigners coming in from the Northern Provinces. On the other hand, Israel has the audacity to build this wall on occupied land, while it has been provoking and terrorising the Palestinian people who are indigenous to that very land, since its birth. The natural consequence of constant provocation is revolt in its many forms. With Israel’s constant provocative conduct towards the Palestinian people, it has a created a deep culture of hatred permeating much of Palestinian society. It would seem logical to presume that, instead of Israel mobilizing approximately 2 billion USD of tax money to build such a colossal structure, it could easily save itself 50% of the money if it were prepared to reduce its constant provocations by half. However, knowing the Israeli State, it very rarely acts upon reason.   

Last, but most definitely not least, the fate of these walls is very important to mention. In November 1990, during the collapse of the Soviet Union and following repeated calls from U.S. President Ronald Reagan to the Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, the Berlin Wall was demolished, reduced to dust, and its remnants were housed in museums as souvenirs of an era whose end the world was happy to witness. November the 9^th was a day that went down as a truly historic day. Millions of people around the world can remember this day and the euphoria that accompanied it when they witnessed fellow East and West Germans rejoicing in happiness. The Great Wall of China, on the other hand, still stands.  It is now approximately 2300 years old, and is said to be the only man-made structure that one can see from outer space.  In 1987 it was enlisted by UNESCO as a World Heritage site and far from being a symbol of oppression and suffering to an occupied people, it is a structure that the entire world reveres.

Let us hope, for the sake of humanity and morality, that the fate of the ‘Apartheid Wall’ will be that of the Berlin Wall and that it will not end up as the “8^th Wonder of the World,” a permanent structure symbolising the oppression and occupation of an entire people.   

A wall, otherwise known as a ‘barrier’ or ‘fence’, is used solely for one purpose. The purpose is to split, separate or segregate two regions from each other.