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Physical Division Without Compromise

(Ha'aretz) Alexander Yakobson- I saw a picture in the paper of a couple I know and respect at a demonstration against the separation barrier. On more than one occasion we took part together in protests for human rights. But today I am not with them, not in the least. We have heard a great deal from sensitive people in Israel and in the world about how the barrier, or separation fence, is repulsive and ugly. Indeed, it is ugly. But so is a bus that has blown up, leaving people who are burned. When a Palestinian policeman from Bethlehem comes to the street near my house and blows up a bus full of passengers, I want a barrier to be built between my house and Bethlehem. True, it is impossible to find a good place for such a barrier. Any line will make life difficult for many people. But I insist that human life is also a human right. Israeli human life as well. The writer is a lecturer in history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
2004-07-06 00:00:00
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