Israel’s Security Fence Divides Much More than Land and people!

     It was about 18 years ago that Israel started to build a fence to protect civilians from terrorism coming from the West Bank. The divide has continued to grow, sometimes in the shape of a tall concrete barrier and sometimes looking more like a fence. The effectiveness of the security fence has been proven by various Israeli organizations over the last decade, as it has indeed saved many lives. Even the Palestinian side has recognized that the fence has played an important role in reducing terrorism.
     This security fence is not the only one of its kind in the world, yet it is the most controversial and the most spoken about, if not the only one ever mentioned. North Korea (250 km long heavily weaponized Korean “Demilitarized” Zone) and Morocco (Melila Border Fence) also have security barriers, just to mention a couple of the 30 worldwide “security fences” of sorts. But few know about them and even fewer care to mention them.
     On the other hand, the West Bank Security Fence is all over the news. Never mind that it has stopped the flow of blood from terrorism victims; it has not stopped the flow of ink from reporters, journalists and Israel’s enemies. As a matter of fact, we have also seen mock walls being erected on various US university campuses such as University California Irvine or UC Berkeley, during anti-Israel yearly programs for several years now.
     While I don’t agree with liberals and secular humanists, I have come to expect their unfounded diatribes against Israel in the name of world peace. They call the wall an “Apartheid Wall” trying desperately to draw parallels between the South African repressive and xenophobic regime and the Israeli democratic self-defense approach to the Middle East crisis. They are crafty and dishonest to the point of having convinced many that Israel is guilty of crimes against humanity. If they could only have God on their side!
     But wait, maybe they do? Or at least they think they do, especially in England when around last Christmas we witnessed the building of yet another mock Israeli Fence all around St. James Church at Piccadilly. This was known as “Bethlehem Unwrapped”, and was organized as a protest against Israeli occupation and Apartheid. This was such a pathetic case of Christian Palestinianism!,  People came from all around the area to write their messages on the wall and express their disgust at Israel in a grandiose display of “Free Speech”. Except of course when someone decided to write “This wall saves lives”. It was not long before social justice driven, pro-Palestinian people painted over the message to cover the whole area and re-write their propaganda. I don’t think that God is on that side.
     The emphasis should be on the word “security”, it’s that simple if you are honest with the facts. Protection and self-defense is not seen as an act of aggression ANYWHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD. Why should it be different for Israel? Yes it is unfortunate that Israel would have to erect a wall to protect their citizens, but what is the alternative?  Allow for another Holocaust at the hands of Hamas, Hizbollah or Iran?
     Those who proclaim God and promote an anti-Semitic agenda are living in the midst of a big contradiction. They are either blinded by their own ignorance, bias and/or fallen human nature, but they are blinded and Satan is holding the blindfold.
    God is really on both sides of the wall because He cares the same for Israelis and Arabs. So much so that He sent His son Yeshua to die for both sides (John 3:16). God is on both sides because He wants to see reconciliation but not another life taken. A loving Messiah who died for all and not a dividing wall is what God is all about.
     Unfortunately, for the time being, the security fence is needed because Israel MUST protect its borders in order to protect its citizens and preserve its existence. It is vital in light of recent Holocaust history and in light of the rebirth of anti-Semitism in Europe. When we see people marching in the streets of Paris chanting slogans like “Jews, Jews, Jews get out France is not for you!” or “Jew, Jew, Jew, Jew…get out!” we understand why the only haven for worldwide Jewry must protect itself even more so.
     And as we commemorate Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27, 2014 we cannot afford to buy into the lies of those who want us to believe that the only obstacle to peace in the Middle East is Israel. I lost my grandfather in Auschwitz along with the rest of the 6,000,000. God allowed for Israel to be reborn in 1948 as a modern nation. While I am not comfortable saying that May 14, 1948 was a direct result of the Holocaust, I can say that the two events are somehow related.
     If Israel didn’t have a security fence, its very existence would be more at risk than it already is from so many other vantage points. People will continue to choose what side of the wall to be on physically or philosophically, but as long as they are on the side opposite Israel’s survival, they will not ever be on God’s side (Psalm 83).
     When it comes to the current security fence, anything less than what it already is would jeopardize Israel’s safety and in a sense, would render my grandfather’s death vain!
     Am Yisrael Chai!