II. The Issues: Pondering the Fence

2. Episode Two: What is that Thing?

Our search takes us to the Israeli government to understand just what Israel is constructing…

According to the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA):

"Despite the many pictures being shown in the international media of a tall concrete wall, more than 97% of the planned 720 km. (480 mile) security fence will consist of a chain-link fence system. Less than 3% of the fence will be constructed of concrete. The short concrete sections are intended not only to stop terrorists from infiltrating, but also to block them from shooting at Israeli vehicles traveling on main highways alongside the pre-June 1967 line.

"The security fence forms a strip approximately the width of a four-lane highway. At its center is the chain-link fence that supports an intrusion detection system. This technologically advanced system is designed to warn against infiltrations, as is the dirt "tracking" path and other observation tools."

(Check out an illustration of the fence @ www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/go.asp?MFAH0o170)

To recap using the definitions from Episode One: 97% of it will be made of chain-link, which qualifies as a type of wire. Less than 3% will consist of concrete, which qualifies as a type of masonry. Based on the dictionary this structure is looking a lot more like a fence; ‘barrier’ works, too, because this structure is a combination wall and fence.

So why do so many people think of it as a wall?

Apparently, walls make better press than fences. 20 out of 21 file photos depicting the barrier on Yahoo from AP, Reuters, and Agence France Presse, dating between Dec. 5 and Dec. 18, showed a concrete wall.

Seems from the press like 95% of the barrier is concrete?

Look again. 15 of the pictures were all from East Jerusalem, and the other 5 were from the West Bank town of Nazlatt Issa, which hugs the Green Line east of Hadera, an Israeli town that has suffered numerous attacks. Try it yourself at http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news/?c=news_photos&p=Israel.

In short, an overwhelming proportion of news photos suggests that the wall is made predominantly of concrete, but in reality they only depict a small section of the actual route in line with the MFA claim that 97% of the path is a chain-link fence.

But what about the first half of its name?

The Israeli government uses 'security' to reflect the fence's goal to prevent suicide and other terrorist attacks. The name also implies that security takes precedence over separation. If indeed security concerns mean taking in certain Palestinian villages to protect Israeli settlements, so be it. Ultimately, 'security' implies that full separation might not take place.

The term separation more befits the original intent. Indeed, the fence definitely marks a division or parting between predominantly Israeli and Palestinian areas, but the jury is out regarding its ultimate effectiveness in bringing Israel security.

Ironically, when the Left originally raised the idea, it spoke of a 'geder hafrada'. Geder, according to the Alkalay dictionary, can be translated as 'fence, hedge, enclosure, wall' while Hafrada means separation or division. The idea was that 'we' the Israelis would be 'here' and 'they' the Palestinians would be there. Security would be secured through other means, not solely through the fence.

Let's see what they're saying out on the web. Time for Episode Three.