LETTERS
Israeli wall creates major issues for Palestinians
Joan Lowenstein is quoted as saying that the wall was designed to separate Israel from Palestine to prevent terrorist attacks in Israel. However, not only is the wall far from the border of Israel-Palestine but in many places, rather than separating Palestinian and Jewish communities, the wall goes right through Palestinian communities.
The Israeli government has wanted to have it both ways. On the one hand, it wants to claim much of those lands as its own. On the other hand, it has refused to recognize the right of the people of those lands to vote to determine the government that controls their lives. The wall seems designed to demarcate the boundaries between Israel and what Israel wants to declare as the future Palestinian state, a series of bantustans: enclosed, isolated, non-contiguous territories. Such a series of territories might be called a state but they would lack the economic or political integrity that are essential for self determination. The wall as it currently stands thus represents the end of the possibility of two viable states. If this happens, the only option for peace will be a single, secular, democratic state for both peoples.
It would be my hope that Lowenstein, the leaders of the Jewish Federation and all who are committed to the well being of Israel, would visit the wall and talk with Palestinians about how it is affecting their lives and land. Sabeel is a Palestinian Christian organization that would be glad to facilitate such a trip.
Joseph H. Summers, Ann Arbor