The fall of a wall

August 15, 2010 - 9:23 PM by

Removing the Gilo barrier. (Photo: Ynet/Noam Moskowitz)

It may not be as dramatic as the Berlin Wall coming down, but for anyone who was in Israel during the years of the Second Intifada at the beginning of the 2000s, the dismantling of the concrete barrier that has separated the Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo from the nearby village of Beit Jalla is indeed a big deal.

The Palestinian village was basically taken over by terror organizations who muscled into homes and used the vantage point to launch barrages of missiles and sniper fire on the Israeli neighborhood over a period of several months, causing death and destruction.

The IDF erected a barrier consisting of 800 concrete plates to prevent the sniper fire, and it’s remained in place ever since, even though there has been little violence in the ensuing years. This week, the residents of Gilo are beginning a new chapter as the IDF has started dismantling the concrete plates, a project that is estimated to take about two weeks.

Yediot Aharonot spoke to some of the residents of the neighborhood’s
Ha’anafah Street, which suffered the most attacks. And they had mixed feelings about the wall finally coming down.

“To be honest, I’m a little scared, I just hope its not an opening for something bad; that they’ll see the walls coming down and it will start all over again,” said Ester Cohen.

Cohen remembers the frightening time 10 years ago, “I live in the same house since the shootings, and it was a very difficult experience. I have a disabled daughter, and she would enter a trance of fear, screaming and shouting. There is still a little trauma. I am not completely okay with them taking it down, but I hope it signifies the start of an age of sanity. I would like to feel that I live in a sane place, like anywhere else.”

Maybe the removal of the concrete barrier separating Gilo and Beit Jalla will be the beginning of that age of sanity.

Tags: , , , , • Category: A New Reality, coexistence, General, Israeliness, Life, Politics, War 

Comments

One Comment on The fall of a wall

  1. rutimizrachi on Wed, Aug 18th 2010 8:27 PM

    2. May it be so.

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