Alex's+Editorial

 Every Action has a Reaction

 “The military in Israel seems to think it has a free hand to inflict any kind of pain and punishment and violence on a captive civilian population, where the Palestinians have to become, you know, perfect Christians -- turn the other cheek or die quietly.” Amidst the suffering innocent civilians of Palestine, legislature Hanan Ashrawi shares the above statement of the decline of Palestine through his eyes. The West Bank Wall, in his opinion, is ruining the land, as well as the lives of each individual it has come in contact with. Israel’s construction of the West Bank Wall has not proved to be successful in preventing terrorism acts, despite terrorism prevention being its main cause for production. Hanan Ashrawi explains that every action has a reaction, and despite what Israelis claim, the acts of violence do not originate in Palestine. The Palestinian people merely defend themselves from the vicious, cruel attacks that Israel inflicts upon them. The West Bank Wall proves to be a detriment to innocent Palestinian civilians by its separation of families, demolition of villages, and interruption of schooling for young children; all acts prove Israel to be immoral, as they are cognizant of the turmoil around them. The West Bank Wall affects many significant areas of the Middle East, specifically on the edge of East Jerusalem. In this area of land, a heavy population of schools, people, and job opportunities once thrived, but when the wall began to form, such productivity came to an abrupt halt. The West Bank Wall has divided neighborhoods and towns, forcing civilians to become unemployed or uproot their own families. Terry Boullata, a translator for local newspapers and School Headmistress, expresses her distraught over the wall and its separation from her family. “My family is in Jerusalem. My husband, his family and his work is in West Bank, in Abu Dis. My children need both sides -- need their grandfather in the West Bank and need their grandparents in the, in the Jerusalem side. For us, we are one people and one land.” For Boullata, she cannot bear the thought of her children missing a relationship with their grandparents due to a wall that should not be constructed to begin with. Terry Boullata, similar to most other civilians in the area, feels that once the wall is finally completed, all contact with her family in the opposite end will be terminated. Family separation is a significant issue, and breaking ties of such bonds should not be taken lightly by the Israelis. Hanan Ashrawi, again, states, “And at the same time it's an excuse for annexation of further land, annexation of water resources, and of course with the byproduct of displacement of Palestinians, of tremendous economic and daily living hardships.” In relation to his previous opinion, Ashrawi further disagrees with the wall due to its demolition of the Palestinian land. Olive trees that have been on Palestinian land for hundreds of years have been uprooted by the Israelis, and action to replace them has been little. It is true that some trees have been planted, but what the Israelis do not realize, is that the trees take decades to grow. In comparison, a fellow Palestinian, Jamal Juma’a explained how land for farming has become scarce. In a land that was not always prosperous agriculturally, a loss of even more land is a huge setback. He says that people are starting to grow hungry, and that there is no help being provided for such a terrible thing. Jamal Juma’a also states, “The place that used to take from you like one hour start to came -- to take from you three hours, to go from place to another.” Aside from ruined land and lack of productivity, the wall also causes blockage for those that have to get to the other side. Travel time, as well as danger is inflicted upon civilians every day due to detours and road blocks. Without being able to get to work or school in a timely manner, jobs and opportunities will quickly be lost. At a rate in which the unemployment rate is already sixty percent, more cannot be lost. Aside from the physical damage that the West Bank Wall is doing to Palestine, schooling is also heavily affected. Terry Boullata, the woman who also faced the terror of being separated from her family, experiences a large loss of students as each year passes. She says, “I lost around 50 children this year from Ras al Amoud area, which is behind the wall inside Jerusalem. They are unable to reach me. The second year, I'm going to lose at least another 60 to 70 children.” The fact that the wall is preventing young pupils from becoming educated is a serious problem, and should be looked at more closely. Children should be able to learn freely without the physical restriction of a wall preventing their travel to school, and losing up to seventy more children each subsequent year is a deep concern. Lastly, the concern of terrorism angers many Palestinians based on its irrelevancy. Israeli leaders claim that the wall will completely stop terrorism they believe is being started by the Palestinians. Suicide bombings, as well as other attacks, have killed more than 900 Israelis in the past three years. Although this may seem like a high number, attacks from Israel have killed a substantial 3,000 Palestinians in the same time period. Israel is organizing and carrying out many acts of terrorism, clearly stated in the numbers above by their small mortality rate compared to the Palestinians. Terrorist attacks are occurring multiple times a year, senselessly. Countless Palestinians try to communicate with Israeli leaders by telling them that in order for the violence to stop, their army must cease.  The West Bank Wall proves to be a detriment to innocent Palestinian civilians by its separation of families, demolition of villages, and interruption of schooling for young children; all acts prove Israel to be immoral, as they are cognizant of the turmoil around them. As stated by school headmistress Terry Boullata, families and children are being cut off from the rest of the land, preventing effective schooling and strong communities. Malnutrition is at a high rate, in comparison with diseases such as Polio because of the wall’s separation from medicines to help this. The West Bank Wall does not prevent terrorism, because Israeli forces have not stopped attacking, and beautiful land is quickly diminishing. Without an influential individual to step in and end these acts of violence, more innocent lives will be lost and Palestine, once full of life, will quickly disappear.