Israel is closer to Nicosia than to Berlin, not only in geographic but also in political terms, because successive Israeli and Palestinian leaders have likewise failed to demonstrate qualities of vision and imagination. A wall is a bad international symbol, especially at the time when the fall of the Berlin Wall is being commemorated. It is also a symbol of futility, because it does not constitute a viable long-term solution.
The situation, however, is unfortunately more complex. As time goes by, Israelis and Palestinians increasingly want to divorce themselves from each other and Israel, contrary to North Korea — a regime doomed to disappear into a single Korea united by freedom and capitalism — is here to stay.
Israel’s wall constitutes a sad, but probably inevitable component of its security. What must be discussed is the security wall’s unnecessary and aggressive geography, accompanied by the provocation of further Israeli settlements on the West Bank, not the principle that stands behind it. After all, security alternatives that would prevent further bloodshed at the time of the Second Intifada did not exist.
Ultimately, “walls” represent the realities that lay behind their construction — realities that, unfortunately, later generations may be unable or unwilling to change.
Dominique Moisi is a visiting professor at Harvard University and the author of The Geopolitics of Emotion.
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