(Ha'aretz) Ze'ev Schiff - The Americans do not object to the security-defense aspect of the fence, but to the fact that it draws a political boundary in some places - always eastward. Nevertheless, a distinction must be made between the American stance, which accepts Israel's defensive needs, and the Palestinian stance, which opposes any fence and wants a porous border between Israel and the territories. A porous border is dangerous because of the ease with which terrorists could pass through it into Israel. The dispute with the Americans began after the fence's route, which was originally closer to the Green Line, was moved eastward. By moving the fence to include Ariel, the planners succeeded in bringing another 40,000 people into the fenced area, of which some 37,000 are Israeli and about 3,000 are Palestinian.
2003-07-25 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive