Comments on: ‘Mr. Netanyahu, Tear Down This Wall’

By: Richard Silverstein

Richard Silverstein — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 03:29:42 +0000

Every authoritarian state falls through some reason or another. Apartheid era S. Africa, the former S. Union, Pol Pot’s Cambodia, Pinochet’s Chile–they were all propped up by massive firepower just as E. German was. Yet somehow the people eventually rose up & overthrew them all.

In Israel’s case I’m not sure the people have the will to overthrow the Occupation since it doesn’t harm them enough yet. But one way of another, the Wall & Occupation itself will fall.

By: Richard Silverstein

Richard Silverstein — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:25:44 +0000

Israel’s Wall will fall too. And I will celebrate when it does as I will celebrate the peace that will come from a settlement (a peaceful one that is).

Interesting too that the IDF seems to have somewhat similar shoot to kill orders as well. Perhaps not as draconian. Perhaps more like: “Shoot and if you kill, no harm done.” Unfortunately though on one is watching the Israeli watchers (except for international peace activists filming IDF crimes). Like that E. German guard, maybe we can hide those high velocity tear gas weapons fr. the IDF so they won’t be able to fire them at the Palestinian demonstrators tearing down the Wall.

By: Eurosabra

Eurosabra — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 05:20:15 +0000

The Berlin Wall was indeed maintained solely by the armed force of the NVA, and by MfS Staatsicherheit troops, in particular the Feliks Dzerzhinsky Wachregiment, custodiet custodes, watching the watchers, with all-inclusive shoot-to-kill orders going all the way up to guards in towers required to shoot escapers in case of an escape attempt by one of their number. There was a rather interesting escape by a guard who hid the weapons of his co-watchers when they fell asleep on duty in order to make his escape. So, yes, totalitarians. Tut mir leid. 10% of the population recruited as informers for the MfS.

It collapsed like a house of cards as soon as the border was opened by mistake as a face-saving gesture, the kind of collapse Israel’s opponents dream of for it. Israel’s Wall is indeed rather feckless by comparison, “worse than a crime, a mistake.”

By: Richard Silverstein

Richard Silverstein — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 01:11:29 +0000

East Germany was ruled by Stalin btw, created by him (and Truman and Churchille) even.

Gee, that would be news to Erich Honneker and the East German Communist Party. They kinda thought they were running the show. I guess you gloss over these niceties because they’re inconvenient to yr theory that Communists are totalitarian and Israel is a democracy.

I never claimed what you say I claimed about East German support for the Wall. I merely said E. Germans had a government which governed the nation & it maintained this wall until the people of E. Germany decided they no longer wanted this government or Wall. Then they tore it down.

I wanted the wall to be built completely on the green line, but they didnt asked me

Since I assume you are Israeli, why don’t you continue protesting the Wall’s route? If you did then you would earn my respect. But merely saying you wanted the Wall to follow the Green Line but neglecting to say what, if anything you did to protest against the actual route, is disappointing in the extreme.

By: Rafi

Rafi — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 19:10:54 +0000

i did not say all of Israel is behind the wall, i said it has the majority of Israelis behind it, the majority of E Germans voted to eliminate the wall and the one german state the first time they had the chance in a referendum, didn’t they?

you’re saying a majority of East Germans supported the wall at any time? an amazing statement. East Germany was ruled by Stalin btw, created by him (and Truman and Churchille) even.

the SC ruled against parts of the wall that are well into the West Bank, the route issue is a diffrent issue than the wall in itself, i am against those parts as well, I wanted the wall to be built completely on the green line, but they didnt asked me.

By: Richard Silverstein

Richard Silverstein — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 06:44:25 +0000

I see. East Germany was led by “totalitarians?” You mean someone of the equivalent of Pol Pot, Hitler, Stalin? One could argue that the East German Communists were authoritarian, but totalitarian? I think not.

And you’re claiming that a Berlin Wall which stood for 40 yrs had no popular support (which you know how precisely how?), while the Israeli Separation Wall has total popular support. You never answered the question why, if all Israel is behind the Wall, the Supreme Court ruled against the Wall’s route?

By: Rafi

Rafi — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 06:16:56 +0000

that “someone” was the totalitarians, it didnt have popular support.

By: Richard Silverstein

Richard Silverstein — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 01:14:37 +0000

Israel’s Separation Wall is a violation of international law plus it violates specific rulings of the Israeli Supreme Court which the IDF refuses to honor. Frankly, I don’t really give a fig whether Israelis support the Wall or not. Their own Supreme Court notes that its route robs Palestinians of their land. The International Criminal Court has ruled in even a more blanket way that the entire enterprise is illegal. Israelis don’t give a crap about niceties like international law.

As for the Berlin Wall, East Germans did in fact maintain the Wall until they decided they didn’t want it. In Israel it will be diff. since Israelis will likely never tear down the wall of their own volition. That’s why the Palestinians & rest of the world will have to “help” Israelis realize the error of their ways in building it in the first place.

if it was up to the Palestinians, Israel would disappear

More hasbara bulls(&t. You know nothing about Palestinians other than the propaganda you read or watch.