Not too long ago German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer criticized the Israel security barrier as "barely understandable" from a security point of view.
And now German Interior Minister Otto Schily has said the controversial West Bank barrier is effective because it has led to a drop in attacks on Israel. He also rejected comparisons between the Israeli fence and the Berlin Wall.
Er, are some Germans refusing to be toed by what Schroeder demands?
"Those who draw comparisons with the Berlin Wall are wrong, because it does not shut people in and deprive them of their freedom," Schily told Deutschlandfunk radio on Monday. "Its purpose is to protect Israel from terrorists." Schily, who is currently in Israel for an international conference on terrorism, said the security barrier was the result of decades of failed efforts to prevent Palestinian suicide bombers from crossing the border and attacking Israel.
"All the efforts undertaken over many years, even decades, have unfortunately failed to bear fruit," he said. "So it is understandable that Israel should try to erect a protective barrier, which furthermore has shown it works, and I think that the criticism is far from the reality."
In the radio interview, Schily also insisted the security barrier should be referred to as a "fence" and not a "wall," as it is often called in Germany.
Schily also mentioned something that few leaders dare acknowledge
"We must be aware that no nation has suffered under the scourge of terrorism like Israel."
UPDATE
Interestingly Deutche Welle, who has run this story, chooses to mock Schily's statement that the barrier should be called a fence and not a wall. They include a photo that displays what is almost the entire walled section of the barrier, with a caption reading "It's a fence, not a wall."
I am amazed at how widespread the use of photos of the walled section has been in order to leverage off the power of prejudiced terminology. Surely Deutche Welle have photos of the fenced sections? They are using a photo of a section that represents only 3-5% of the barrier, to mock a statement that correctlly describes 95% of the barrier.
Prejudiced? Nah!
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