Focus
Young Israelis and the separation wall, twenty years after its construction began
The separation wall between Israel and the Palestinian Territories.
Alexandra Novoseloff/Frank Neisse
Text by: Sami Boukhelifa Follow
4 mins
Twenty years ago to the day, Israel launched the construction of a wall between its territory and the occupied West Bank.
With the exception of a small minority, today the young Israeli generation who have grown up with this separation barrier are largely unaware of the reality of the occupation and the resulting oppression.
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From our correspondent in Jerusalem
In the middle of the second Intifada, the Jewish state is confronted with deadly suicide attacks, committed by Palestinian suicide bombers.
The authorities then decide to build a wall.
700 km long, eight meters high, in reinforced concrete in places, "this security barrier" is nicknamed the "apartheid wall" by the Palestinians.
It hinders their freedom of movement, cuts them off from part of their lands, their families, and above all from Jerusalem, which they consider to be the capital of their future state.
This wall also had an impact on Israeli society.
“
This safety barrier is necessary
”
Between two lessons, Noam, Ayelet and their friends take a break.
From their faculty at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, we can see the separation wall with the Palestinian Territories.
“
This safety barrier is necessary
,” explains Noam, 23.
“
In the past few months, we have suffered seven terrorist attacks in Israel.
Several years ago, my aunt died in a bus bombing here in Jerusalem.
You don't understand what we are going through here.
Nobody wants to be at war.
But to protect your home, your family, your friends, you have no choice.
In Israel, we have a saying: if the Palestinians lay down their arms, there will be peace.
But if the Israelis lay down their arms, there will be no more Israel
“says the young student.
Like all Israelis his age, at 18, Noam joined the army.
Two years of compulsory military service for women.
Almost three for men.
But the girl is not in a combat unit.
She did not go to the West Bank.
She didn't go to the other side of the wall.
What does she know of the occupation?
And Palestinians?
“
They are human beings.
I don't want to demonize them.
But we give them money, we give them work.
And they prefer to build tunnels to attack us, instead of building schools
, ”she asserts with certainty.
A little older, Ayelet, she experienced the suicide attacks in Jerusalem when she was a child, in the early 2000s, during the second Intifada.
However, she has a more nuanced discourse.
“
I think the situation here is too complicated.
I'm not sure debating it in three minutes is enough.
Even three hours would not be enough.
I don't know if it's thanks to the wall or not, but the situation has improved since it was built.
Afterwards, no one dreams of having a wall in their country
”, regrets the 26-year-old student.
“
Israeli youth are brought up in fear
”
In the corridors of the university, some students nevertheless dream of tearing down this wall.
Like Atalya Ben-Abba, 24 today.
“
At the age of 18, I refused to do my military service because I refuse to participate in the occupation of Palestine by Israel.
I became a conscientious objector.
»
An act of rebellion that earned him 160 days in prison.
In Israel, she is not the only one in this case, but she is part of a minority.
Firm in her convictions, the young girl is now a committed activist.
“
I am a member of several anti-occupation movements.
In the Jordan Valley, Israel exploits the natural resources of the Palestinians, and siphons off their water reserves.
This separation wall is an apartheid wall.
It is a wall that separates families.
Thanks to him, the Palestinians are subject to the Israeli authorities.
Israel decides when they can work, when they have to go home.
Israel controls their lives.
The Israeli authorities have total power over them
,” she laments.
Atalya Ben-Abba, a young student at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, campaigns against the occupation of the Palestinian territories by her country.
© Sami Boukhelifa/RFI
Yet this reality, most Israelis ignore it, or refuse to see it.
“
Young Israelis are brought up in fear.
They are convinced that the Palestinians are a danger to them.
This wall is a mental barrier.
In Israel, we are told all the time that we are under imminent attack, whether at school or on television.
It is our daily life.
But it is not by creating more injustice and more suffering that you will succeed in guaranteeing your security.
We are in a status quo of fear and violence, made up of attacks and counter-attacks.
This wall didn't solve anything.
We are no safer
,” she concludes.
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Israelo-Palestinian conflict
Israel
Palestinian territories