On the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall it is clear that we have learned little
about brutal repression, according to Asem Judeh, long time human rights activist. He says the
celebrations have a bitter taste for millions of Palestinians as they watch Israel erect a wall that
is designed to create even more harsh conditions for the already victimised people.
"The West is celebrating in triumph at the end of communism, but the West seems to have
learned little about brutal repression," he says. "There have been no protests about the erection
of the Israeli wall, the face of twenty first century repression and ethnic cleansing. Israel wants
to continue its program of turning Palestinians into non-people by locking them up inside walls
-- and there are no protests from the West."
Mr Judeh says the Israelis are clearly continuing their plan to remove Palestinians from their
home land, which is why they are not making any serious efforts to negotiate over a two state
solution -- or any solution. "The Wall is a symbol of Israel's position on the Palestinians. They
want Palestinians out of sight and out of mind. It is the kind of brutality that the West condemned
communism for. Yet Western governments are consistent supporters of Israel, undermining the
very principles of liberty and human rights that they claim triumphed when the Berlin Wall came
down."
Mr Judeh says the Israelis are the bullies of the region, nuclear armed, and refusing to let the
IAEA examine its arsenal. They are also callous like communist dictators; the Gaza war was far
more violent than the crack down in Prague by the Soviets, for example. "Many Israelis are not
Semites. They have no roots in the history of the region, but are emigrants from Eastern
European or Russia, Slavs from the former Soviet states. Some of the brutality of that Soviet
history has been transplanted into the Middle East. The Berlin Wall came down 20 years ago.
The Israeli wall stands, as a condemnation of the West's moral blindness and Israel's cruelty."
