HASTEN THE DAY:

Controversial fence proves its worth (Joshua Brilliant, 12/05/03, United Press International)

Aliza Hazan was thrilled. Three times that afternoon she had walked up and down Netanya's main street from the outdoor cafes by the seashore to a shopping mall near the main entrance to town. They are more than a mile apart.

Both had been targets of deadly terrorist attacks and Hazan marveled at the city's signs of recovery. "You see more people in the streets! ... All the shops are open! ... People are eating in restaurants!" she said.

Netanya, a city of 185,000 people north of Tel Aviv, was badly hit during the intifada. There were 14 attacks, a municipal spokesman said. According to a Foreign Ministry casualty list, 43 people were killed and more than 400 were wounded.

"It was frightening. After every attack, people locked themselves up in their homes," Hazan said. [...]

The atmosphere changed after Israel built a formidable security barrier, at the edge of the West Bank, 10 miles east of Netanya. [...]

In Netanya this week, elderly people were relaxing on the benches in the pedestrian mall watching water flow from a lily-shaped fountain. A woman confined to a wheelchair rested her head on the shoulder of a younger woman who brought her there. Cafes were empty but shopkeepers were busy attending customers. A young girl violinist played the tune of a Hebrew song: "Thank you for all you created. ... Because of that I exist."

The wall is the easy part--the dictating of the borders of the new nation of Palestine. The hard part is to let go and walk away, leaving the Palestinians to determine the direction of that state. But the time is long past to do so.

Posted by Orrin Judd at December 5, 2003 12:26 AM