OCCUPIED TERRITORIES: THE WALL

Amin: There Are Judges in the Hague by Uri Avnery

07/10/04 "AMIN" -- One of the Israeli newspapers, Haaretz, put the two events on the front page: the 100th anniversary of the death of Theodor Herzl, the founder of the modern Zionist movement, and the judgment of the International Court of Justice, which declared the Israeli Separation Wall illegal. This coincidence may seem fortuitous. What connection could there possibly be between a historical anniversary and the latest topical event?

But there is a connection. It is expressed in one sentence written by Herzl in Der Judenstaat, the book that became the cornerstone of Zionism. This is what it said: “There (in Palestine) we shall be a sector of the wall of Europe against Asia, we shall serve as the outpost of civilization against barbarism.”


This sentence could easily be written today. American thinkers propound the “clash of civilizations”, with Western “Judeo-Christian” culture battling “Islamic barbarism”. American leaders declare that Israel is the outpost of Western civilization in the fight against Arab-Muslim “international terrorism”. The Sharon government is building a wall for the purpose, or so it says, of protecting Israel against Palestinian-Arab terrorism. It declares at every opportunity that the fight against “Palestinian terrorism” is a part of the struggle against “international terrorism”. The Americans support the Israeli wall with all their heart and their wallet.