Email 
Print 
Seven security barriers you might want to know about
Written by: Ruth Gidley
A Minuteman volunteer helps to secure barbed wire along a fence the group is building 50 feet from the U.S. border with Mexico in Arizona, May 2006. REUTERS/Jeff Topping
Watching the news of Gazans literally breaking through to Egypt after seven months of virtual siege by the Israelis, I've been thinking about walls. About 45 km (30 miles) away from Gaza, Israel's 720 km (430-mile) part-wall, part-fence around Palestinian communities in the West Bank must be the most famous security barrier in the world today. But it's not the only one. Apparently, Moroccans have built more fences and walls than anyone else, according to humanitarian expert Hugo Slim. He says a Moroccan wall dividing Western Sahara into two is called the "berm" and is estimated by the U.N. refugee agency to stretch for 2,500 km (1,500 miles) separating off land that's controlled by the indigenous Sahrawi group, Polisario Front. And Britain's Times newspaper reported in December 2005 that India was building a 4,000 km (2,500-mile) wall to rival the Great Wall of China on its border with Bangladesh. China's famous wall, intended to keep out northern nomadic tribes, was 6,400 km (4,000 miles) long, proving that there's nothing new about the idea of a security barrier. Slim argues, in fact, that when you look at history, the first casualty of war is usually the freedom of movement for civilians in the area. He says Britain's first modern counter-insurgency conflict, the 19th Century Boer War, was an early laboratory for methods of restricting movement. The British not only coined the idea of "concentration camps" to house Boer families in South Africa, they also used black African civilians to put up barbed wire stretching for 6,000 km (3,600 miles). Once barbed wire was invented - in 1873 by the American Joseph F. Glidden, according to Slim - it made rolling out a security fence a lot easier and quicker than building the Great Wall. Another infamous barrier of the moment is the U.S.-Mexico border, where the U.S. government has put up a fence at least 700 miles (1,100 km) long. Migrant rights activists say it raises the chances of people dying in the desert, while right-wing militias who call themselves the Minutemen complain that it's not big enough. CNN reported in 2007 that the Minutemen were disappointed it was just five strands of barbed wire - which they called a cattle fence - rather than the 4.2 metre-high (14 foot) wall topped with razor wire they had expected. They've been doing extra fencing themselves, with leaders explicitly saying they wanted it to be "Israeli-style". Thinking back to Palestinians under siege, as Egypt starts to close Gazans in again with barbed wire, Hamas government spokesman Taher al-Nono says that three days of access to Egypt wasn't enough to restock Gaza with the supplies its people need. "The crisis in Gaza still exists, both in terms of fuel and electricity," he said. "What the merchants brought from Egypt was not enough to compensate for the shortages incurred over the last seven months."
Reuters AlertNet is not responsible for the content of external websites.
12 responses to “Seven security barriers you might want to know about”
Please note that comments should not be regarded as the views of Reuters.
Leave a Reply
When you submit a comment to us we request your name, e-mail address and optionally a link to a website. Please note where you submit a website address, we may link to it via your name. By sending us a comment, you accept that we have the right to show the comment and your name to users. Although we require your email address, this will not be published on the site, and is only required to enable us to check facts with you, e.g. if you are making a claim we can not confirm easily. Additionally, if you would like your comment removed at anytime, you'll have to use this e-mail address when you contact us. To remove a comment at any time please e-mail us at blogs-(at)-reuters-(dot)-com (address obscured to avoid spam) specifying who you are and what you would like removed. We moderate all comments and will publish everything that advances the post directly or with relevant tangential information. We reserve the right to edit comments in order to maintain the quality of the comments, and may not include links to irrelevant material. We try not to publish comments that we think are offensive or appear to pass you off as another person, and we will be conservative if comments may be considered libelous. Reuters will use your data in accordance with Reuters privacy policy. Reuters Group is primarily responsible for managing your data. As Reuters is a global company your data will be transferred and available internationally, including in countries which do not have privacy laws but Reuters seeks to comply with its privacy policy.
Unlike some other content on this website, the written content in this article may be republished or redistributed by any means free of charge. Any use of photographs and graphics on this website is expressly prohibited. You must check whether written content contained in other articles on this website may be republished or redistributed without the express permission of Reuters or the relevant third party provider.
%}
Ruth Gidley has been on the AlertNet team since late 1999. Before that, she lived in Guatemala, working first with a small local NGO and then as a journalist for a Central American news service. Ruth, who has a Masters in Latin American Studies, has edited a book on human rights in Guatemala, and written chapters for books on truth monuments and on Native American traditions.
27 Jan 2008 17:20:40 GMT
Imagine living in a small city and that every day and night your town is bombarded from another city with rockets carrying explosives mixed with ball bearings and rat poison. Suppose that for the past two years, over 5,000 rockets have been fired at your town. Imagine that all of your appeals to the other town's government to stop the attacks have been ignored.
This is exactly the situation in the Jewish city of Sderot, one of the many, genuine humanitarian crises caused by Hamas. Ever since Hamas took control of Gaza in 2005, they have daily terrorized Sderot and other Israeli cities with random rocket attacks ââ¬" even during so-called ââ¬Åcease fireâ⬠agreements. Over 7,000 rockets have landed in Israel since they left Gaza. The Israeli citizens are constantly on edge, having at most 15 seconds to find cover from the time a rocket is launched until it destroys a home, a school, a hospital, a day-car center, or a field of crops. Hamas is also responsible for creating the current crisis in Gaza as a way to turn world opinion against Israel. In response to daily Palestinian rocket attacks against Israeli civilians, Israel only cut off non-essential supplies to Gaza and a small percent of one fuel source for a short amount of time. True to form, the Western media immediately jumped all over Israel for Gaza's hardships while ignoring information to the contrary - even from Arab sources. Abdel Rahman Rashed, a prominent Arab editor and an unofficial spokesman for the Saudi royal family, blamed Hamas for the suffering of Palestinians by foolishly firing rockets at Israel and forcing them to respond. Nothing new here. Last November, for example, the New York Times blamed Israel for the Gaza sewage disaster while ignoring Arab evidence pointing to Palestinian involvement. Additionally, Khaled Abu Toameh, reporting for the Jerusalem Post, quoted a Palestinian Authority official who accused Hamas of ordering bakeries to keep their businesses closed for the second day running to create the humanitarian crisis. The PA official also said that contrary to Hamas's assertions, there is enough fuel and flour to keep the bakeries in the Gaza Strip operating for another two months. He added that Hamas members have stolen most of the fuel in the Gaza Strip to fill their vehicles. Since the wall between Egypt and Gaza was erected, there has only been one homicide attack from Gaza. Compare that with 14 terrorist acts every single day since the 2000 intifada began! It's really not that hard to tell when Hamas is lying or when Reuters is promulgating their propaganda. Simply watch their lips to see if they are moving.29 Jan 2008 09:55:16 GMT
I agree with your analysis. Yasser Arafat stole millions of dollars in "Humanitarian" aid while his people suffered. Hamas is only looking to create fear and chaos.
04 Feb 2008 12:22:50 GMT
the Palestinian people as a whole voted for a Hamas goverment to rule their country,how many times does Hamas have to say our goal is to eliminate the country of Israel?their will never be peace for Israel, or for the Arabs, until the events in the book of revelation become a reality.from what is transpiring through out the world it is closer then we think.
04 Feb 2008 12:30:18 GMT
Dear Dr RJP,
Do you happen to have any idea why on earth Hamas would do the things they do? There must be a reason.04 Feb 2008 23:18:38 GMT
When a nation is being literally strangled, with no way of optaining visas to go see the rest of their family or simply to get OUT (basic freedom of movement), when that same nation is at the very mercy of the people who are oppressing them I do not see how you could fail to see why they might lash out. Hammas was elected to government, yes, but they never had the chance to prove what they would or wouldn't do if given the chance to run the country. Israel and the rest of the international community refused to speak to them let alone work with them. Now they are fighting back the only way that they can. I am not saying that dropping bombs on civilians is acceptable (although the distinction must be made between civilians and settlers who have no right to be where they are) nor would I argue that Hammas does not try to exagerate the extent of the damage done to Gaza soas to gain more international empathy. But the fact is that littl! e exageration is necessary. What some call "non-essentials" others call enough electricity to keep the hospital running (would you like to chose between keeping the emergency room open or the maternity ward open?) and running water. Neither side is angelic and as a follower of Jesus I can't agree with eithers' methods however in certain David and Goliath circumstances it is necessary to try to understand why a desperate and oppressed group of people with no options left would try to resist the constant opression they live under in violent ways. As far as "their will never be peace for Israel, or for the Arabs, until the events in the book of revelation become a reality" is concerned I must make a most passionate plea to you, Charles. As a brother in Christ I would encourage you to remember that the Lord said "blessed be the peacemakers" and called us to serve in this world, to love one another, to seek justice and pursue peace with all our hearts. His message is one of reconciliation and hope. We are not called to look forward to and try to bring about the end of times (first of all we know for sure that we can't predict when it will come and secondly I think God doesn't really need our help to bring it aboutm he's got it covered, don't worry) but we ARE called to be bring about the Kingdom of God in the here and now with a revolutionary kind of love that doesn't play favorites and doesn't give up. It's too easy to condemn, it's alot harder to try to understand, but it's the only thing that can bring lasting change.
06 Feb 2008 09:58:52 GMT
Dear Mr Engelbanger, Mr Floto and of course Dr RJP,
It haven't crossed your mind that the Palestinians might be interested in getting their land back? I'm afraid they're not getting much help from anyone else than themselves in their quest and to be honest, looking at history, occupation rarely brings out anything good.06 Feb 2008 09:59:04 GMT
The residents of Gaza chose their government. Now they are paying for the actions of the government they chose.
If (a very big if) Gaza is part of the state of "Palestine", and the state of "Palestine" attacks Israel, then "Palestine" has committed an act of war upon Israel. "Palestine" has no valid objection if Israel, or Egypt, defends their borders and territory.14 Feb 2008 11:53:43 GMT
So, in light of this quote:
"It haven't crossed your mind that the Palestinians might be interested in getting their land back?" How far back do we have to go to determine whose land was whose? If I remember correctly, Historically it belonged to an socio-political entity called Israel from ancient of times. It was re-instated by the Almighty UN in recent times. The Arab nations went to war over their hatred of Israel and got whipped in the process. "To the winner goes the spoils" I think. If you are on the losing side of things I don't think you have much say in anything. So whose authority determines whose land it is and where rightful ownership begins and ends? If we can find some Canaanites, Hittites, Phoenicians, Philistines, Ammonites, Moabites etc.. then I think they might have a say otherwise. I agree, the Israelis have to certainly act with humanity but the Arabic and the Liberal media propaganda machine loves to portray the Palestinians as hapless helpless pawns in the Israelis hands when in truth it is the other way around a proxy war waged by Iran and Syria using very willing Palenstinian! s because they don't have the guts to face Israel in the open. In short, they are cowards and it should be recognized for what they are.02 Mar 2008 11:55:32 GMT
In recent news there is another security wall that has come to existence in Srilanka. dividing Lite controlled Wanni from north and southern edge of the Northern Province of Srilanka. It can be categorized as one of the modern killing fields. Daily there are reports of at least twenty five killings reported by Srilankan army and the repel Ltte. Northern boundary is about six miles long st-reach of bush vegetation flat dry land with many deep army bunkers. Before and after 2002 when this was created after the CFA agreement over a thousand were killed in the fighting around this six mile boundary. In the other southern boundary stretching near eastern mineral sand town of Pulmodai to Central agricultural Town of Vavuniya. From this central agricultural rich land to the west rich fishing Town of Mannar the southern boundary wall is about thirty eight miles. Covered with deep forest and farm land fighting is very intense in this area ! for the last six months.After the army cleared LTTE fighters from east of the island in June 2007. Most of srilankan elite Army of three divisions are engaged in this front. So far only capturing some military bunkers and later loosing it to Ltte. Around over another thousand fighters have lost their life in the last six months alone. Beside this Ethnic fightings like that in Gaza,Kenya, Sudan and Iraq over thousand civilians are killed in many parts of the fighting of srilanka every year. With the New economy power India as neighbor and many international countries have tried their best to bring peace to this Ethnic conflict in the last twenty five years. The last peace agreement brokered by Norway in 2002 was instrument for saveing the life of at least 5000 life's for three years. Till war broke again in 2005 after the present Rajapakse government came into power and broke the CFA. How long will this conflict remain out of the International attention.
02 Mar 2008 23:18:06 GMT
To Jessica -
Your's are the first words I've heard that truly state the situation as it is, and not from a political or military one. I wish everyone had the fortitude to read stories from many many sources. It's our responsibility to understand the situation as much as we can before we spew forth our 'opinions'. To VC Clark's comment about who "owns" the land and that it "was re-instated by the UN in recent times". If you really knew your history, you would know that it was Israel who basically laid claim to the land after WWII and told the US and the UN, who basically agreed with them. But if you were to read the stories about people who lived there before the Zionist invasion in 1948 you would understand that people of all religions were living as neighbors, side by side, sharing, growing, loving. They didn't identify their neighbors as Jews or Arabs, they were just their neighbors who they interacted with everyday, who they did business with, who they invited into their homes. So read Jessica's comments again and see if you can understand where she is coming from. At this point in the struggles of the people of that land, it doesn't do any good for us to justify what's happening by saying - 'well, they shot the first rocket, and all we're doing is defending ourselves.' I seem to recall that's how my brothers and sisters talked when we were kids. As long as one group feels oppressed and is deprived of the basic necessities of living, they will do whatever they can to obtain those necessities. It's human nature. Read Maslow's theory of motivation. The pattern of what happens when one group oppresses another is entirely predictable. Pick any historical battle where this occurred. It always plays out the same. And don't think for a minute that the situation in Iraq is going to be any different. America is seen as the oppressor. They have been since June 2003 when the Iraqis realized that the US only planned to conquer Baghdad, drive out the Husseins and everyone would then embrace Democracy. Nearly five years later and those poor people still don't know when electricity, water or sewage will be restored. How sad is that? Like most of us, I'm not in an official position of power. But we still are responsible for doing what we can to improve these situations. For me, it's doing my due diligence to understand what's going on and engage as many people as I can in these sorts of discussions.14 Mar 2008 21:56:50 GMT
I DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT IS HAPPENING IN OUR WORLD. THERE HAS TO BE A WAY FOR US ALL TO GET ALONG. FOLKS ARE STRAVING TO DEATH AND MORE KILLINGS EACH DAY. THIS IS NOT RIGHT. MAYBE MORE OF US SHOULD GET DOWN ON OUR KNEES AND PRAY FOR AWHILE. IF ALL WOULD SAY A PRAYER, THE LORD WILL LISTEN. LETS GIVE IT A TRY. S BROWN TENN.
19 Mar 2008 14:49:11 GMT
ONE QUES TO ALL - Who existed first? Isreal or Palestine? and WHERE? Where Isreal is right now, it was Palestine. Isreal never existed? Every one has a basic right to live with freedom. People of Isreal live in freedom ... People of Palestine are fighting for it.... and somewhere else Kashmiri's are also.. May be they will get that what they wish ... Hope.....