The Israeli West Bank Barrier: Security against Violence, or Apartheid Separation?

A short portion of Israel's still incomplete separation and security barrier
in the West Bank of Palestine 

The Church of Scotland ministers' tour I was part of recently, rightly focused on visiting the sites linked to the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. That is the reason why I seek to return to Israel as often as I can, to go to visit the sites connected with Jesus' Story. But what I enjoyed about this tour was that it also granted a small portion of time to visiting Church of Scotland-supported mission projects in the Holy Land and looking into some of the current politically-hot issues that draw the attention of people, organisations, and governments all over the world. Israel's West Bank Barrier is just such an issue that our group looked at in our recent trip to the Holy Land. I'm glad we did. 

We spent one afternoon hearing from a representative of The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions. The representative was a young thirty-something British-born Israeli who spoke with passion about the cause of Palestinians and against the State of Israel. She spoke to us of the effects of the Wall and guided us in a tour of Palestinian villages and homes affected by Israeli policies. Many of our group were moved by her sincere and passionate advocacy for the Palestinian people. She referred to Israel as an occupier and the barrier as a Wall of Separation. Our speaker came close to naming the Wall as a tool of state apartheid by Israel. Over the past several years I have heard people from all over the world, including an ex-President of the USA, charge the State of Israel with apartheid when viewing Israel's barrier in the West Bank. 

The Israeli West Bank Barrier is a security and separation barrier that the State of Israel has been constructing for the past ten years within and along the the borders of the West Bank. It will be 430 miles long when it is completed. Just under two-thirds of the barrier has been completed. Ninety percent of the barrier is a fence with trenches and an exclusion area on both sides of the fence. Ten percent of the barrier is a 26' tall concrete wall that is pictured in the photo above.  Israel argues that the barrier is necessary to protect Israeli civilians from Palestinian terrorism, especially the suicide bombings that increased during the Second Intifada over ten years ago. Incidents of terror and the resulting number of deaths and wounded have been significantly reduced. The barrier is a non-violent way for Israel to protect her people. 

The International Community has expressed outrage at Israel's policy of constructing the barrier. The United Nations and the majority of nations stand against Israel. Churches connected to the World Council of Churches generally stand in strong opposition to Israeli security efforts. Such is the case of the Church of Scotland and the Presbyterian Church (USA), the two churches with which I have significant relationships. It greatly concerns me the hostility that is hurled at Israel by the theological and political left. I identify at least five charges against Israel in regards to the barrier: it deviates from the boundaries established after the 1967 Six Day War; it is seen as an attempt by Israel to annex Palestinian territory under the guise of security; it violates international law, it undermines negotiations, and it severely restricts Palestinians who live near the barrier. The demand is that Israel halt the construction of the barrier and unoccupy Palestinian territory. 

I contend that the barrier has nothing to do with a policy of annexation of Palestinian land or apartheid by Israel. It has everything to do with the security and self-defense of Israel's people. That includes Israeli Jews, Palestinians, and Arabs. Since Israel's monumental victory in the '67 Six Day War, she has sought accommodation with the Palestinians and the Arab states, but she has been repeatedly rebuffed. Israel grants rights to Arab citizens within a liberal democratic system, the only one of its kind in the Middle East. Yet Palestinians and their other Arab compatriots paint Israel as an occupying power and they are committed to Israel's destruction. The barrier is a non-violent way to stymie both destructive infiltration and smuggling. I marvel at what the people of Israel have accomplished since 1948. They have worked hard to make the desert bloom. They care for their people and seek to defend the lives of her people. The barrier has been an effective way to protect life. 

I am saddened by well-meaning, yet badly mislead, Christians who continue to stand on the side of the Palestinian people because their peace and justice commitments demand it. Such people are so fixated on supposed peace and justice issues that they fail to see the larger political and historical context of the current situation. The situation is extremely complicated and messy. What concerns me is that this way of thinking that centres on peace and justice actually promotes the destruction of the state of Israel. They do not see violent forces that seek to throw Israel out of the West Bank and out of all of Israel, that is, to destroy the people of Israel. There are powerful forces that seek a Jew-free Palestine. It is not so much apartheid as it is genocide. I am saddened that if this were to take place, the whole world would celebrate the destruction of the state of Israel and her people. What I heard the representative saying the other day was the subtle demonisation of Israel. Peace and justice were used as weapons to hide forces that seek Israel's destruction. I am greatly disturbed by what I have seen and what I have read that comes from those on the left leaning side of the political spectrum. It concerns me that so many brothers and sisters whom I hold dear and support peace and justice in Palestine, set up a situation that leads to just the opposite. I find myself in a very small minority, especially in the Church of Scotland. 

Let us all pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

Blessings to you and yours,