Much attention has recently been paid to the construction of a separation barrier between Israel and the West Bank, especially as the International Court of Justice at the Hague deliberates this week on its legality. Israelis say this barrier will serve as a security fence in that it will prevent movement of Palestinians, and therefore make it more difficult for militant groups to carry out attacks, such as suicide bombings, in Israeli cities. By contrast, it is called an "apartheid wall" by many Palestinians, referring to its separation of many Palestinians from either their land or from other Palestinians, as well as from Israelis.
Some of those arguing in support of the barrier have invoked the success of a similar barrier, the one that has surrounded the Palestinian territory of the Gaza Strip for many years.
These supporters often mention that since its construction, none of the attacks carried out within Israel originated from Gaza. It is argued that the West Bank barrier will similarly address Israeli security concerns, and therefore it must be built. A serious problem with this argument is that it ignores the many other effects of such a barrier, effects that have been visible in Gaza for the past several years.
The sealing off of Gaza has allowed for more aggressive rules of engagement to be pursued by the Israeli army there. This includes the use of "flechette" tank shells. These shells, which are not used in military operations in the West Bank due to the danger they pose to civilians, are used in densely-populated Gaza. Gaza has seen many demolitions, assassinations and military operations that have resulted in the deaths of many Palestinian militants and civilians. This violence has continued even after the completion of the Gaza barrier and the subsequent cessation of attacks within Israel from the Gaza Strip.
Rafah City and the refugee camp on the western border of the barrier built around Gaza have been some of the hardest hit places in all of Israel and Palestine. Over a thousand houses have been demolished in Rafah, and over 200 Palestinians have been killed, all since the construction of the surrounding barrier. Gunfire originates every night from the guard towers, which are a part of the barrier and there is a regular presence of armored bulldozers engaged in demolition, as the army searches for arms smuggling tunnels built underneath the barrier.
Whether it is the increasingly self-destructive attacks that are carried out by Gazans on the Israeli military, or the digging of tunnels to circumvent the barrier, the sealing off of Gaza has created both a desperate situation and response by Palestinians in Gaza. Anti-Israel sentiment has increased among Gazans and many have become supporters of groups such as Hamas, which perpetrate attacks on Israeli civilians.
There are serious differences between the barrier built around Gaza and the one being built around the West Bank. Because the West Bank is larger and and some Palestinian land will be included on the Israeli side of the barrier, less of the the West Bank than Gaza will be surrounded by the new wall. Though the West Bank will be less sealed off than the Gaza Strip, the barrier will result in similar, though less extreme, effects.
Gaza should not be viewed as a success and emulated by the construction of a barrier around the West Bank. To do so would ignore the suffering that this conflict has caused for both Palestinians and Israelis, as both sides have been the victims of violence and degradation. This systematic ignorance of the reality of life of the other side is one of the main problems impeding a solution for this conflict. To focus only on the effect of this barrier either as it makes suicide bombings harder to carry out against Israeli civilians, or only as it makes life difficult for Palestinians, is a manifestation of this ignorance that only increases with the creation of such barriers. The sealing off of Gaza has separated Israelis from Palestinians, and has therefore made it easier for each side to dehumanize the other. The construction of the barrier around the West Bank would only further this lack of understanding between the Palestinians and Israelis.
The barrier around the Gaza Strip has increased the violence and demolition inflicted on the Gazans. This, combined with their seperation from Isrealis, has hardened their anti-Israel sentiments and increased their support for militant groups, whose actions only polarize the situation further. If similar developments in the West Bank will come from the construction of the new barrier, the possibility of long-term coexistence and peace will be more difficult to realize, as Palestinians behind this barrier harden their hearts in the face of an increasingly desperate situation.
