Off the Wall

Ramot. Gilo. Neve Yaakov.
To me all of these neighborhoods are part of established Jerusalem. It was then very jarring to see them on a map in East Jerusalem—something that I childishly have never really thought about. Recently I went on a tour with Ir Amim around the Separation wall/barrier/fence/____. Ir Amim is a non-profit association dedicated to an equitable, stable and sustainable Jerusalem. While my feelings on the barrier are extremely mixed it was hurtful to see the wall covered in anti-Zionist, anti-Israel slogans including “From the Warsaw ghetto to the Abu Dis Ghetto” and “Balls to Walls”. We visited Har Homa, a settlement recently built in East Jerusalem where I have cousins and saw how both Israelis and Palestinians are racing to establish “facts on the ground.” Seeing how a man is separated from his olive grove and thus his livelihood, by a cement wall is tragic, but it seems to be obvious that the wall has let me go to restaurants, cafes, and malls without giving security a second thought. Perhaps the only way to accept the wall is through the lens of the absurd which I think this performance artist does well here in promoting the next World Cup over the Separation Barrier.