Celebrating Berlin, ignoring Palestine

Celebrating Berlin, ignoring Palestine

[RAMALLAH, Yesterday, world leaders gathered in Berlin to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989, which paved the way for the end of the Cold War and reunification of Germany. Alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, President Dmitry Medvedev of Russia, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama addressed the crowd gathered at the Brandenburg Gate and praised the courage of those who tore down the Berlin Wall and claimed their freedom, thereby promoting peace in Europe. They issued a call for action on behalf of people deprived of their freedom. Medvedev: “Those people are now proud to see how they managed to unite the world, how they did their best to overcome barriers, how they managed to reconcile after World War II, and how to progress together for a better future.” Brown: “The whole world is proud of you. You tore down the Wall and you changed the world. You tore down the Wall that for half a century had imprisoned half a city, half a country, half a continent, and half the world.” Sarkozy: “The fall of the Berlin Wall serves for us all today as a call to fight oppression and to tear down all the walls that still separate the world, that divide cities, regions and nations. This is the message that a unified Europe proudly embodies and delivers to the world.” Clinton: "It is also a call to action. There are still millions across our world who are separated… Those of us gathered here tonight, leaders and citizens alike, must pledge ourselves to work together to advance freedom beyond its current frontiers, so that people everywhere are afforded the opportunities to pursue their dreams.” In a video address, Obama emphasised the universality, indivisibility and interdependency of human right: “Our Declaration of Independence reads that all men are created equal and that they have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In Germany's Constitution it reads that human dignity shall be inviolable. Even as we celebrate these values, we know the work of freedom is never finished. In Berlin under siege, President Kennedy said: “Freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved all are not free”…. Today there's still those living within the walls of tyranny. Human beings who are denied the very human rights that we celebrate today… It is for those who believe, even in the face of cynicism and doubt and oppression, that walls can truly come down.” But what action are these leaders taking in relation to the West Bank Wall, which Israel continues to build in flagrant violation of a 2004 International Court of Justice (ICJ) Advisory Opinion, and in relation to Israel's imposed blockade of the Gaza Strip – both of which play a significant role in preventing a peaceful resolution to the conflict? The construction of the 700km-long Wall, accompanied by increasingly restrictive Israeli military control over the Palestinian population of the West Bank through the use of barricades, checkpoints, gates, and permit systems, inhibits Palestinians from leading normal lives. The Wall and permit system restrict the freedom of movement of thousands of Palestinians as they are separated from their capital Jerusalem, from their own families, their schools, their workplaces, and deprived of their most basic human rights. The world leaders’ call for action, and their passionate condemnations of the Berlin Wall yesterday, rang hollow in the absence of a condemnation of the West Bank Wall, paired with a commitment to dismantle it, as ordered by the ICJ ruling. Meanwhile, Palestinian demonstrators tried their best to compensate for this lack of due international attention by tearing down concrete slabs of Israel's Wall at Qalandiya military checkpoint near Ramallah yesterday. Demonstrators waved Palestinian flags shouting "We are going to Jerusalem!". Last Friday, villagers in Ni'lin had also succeeded in opening a section of the Wall in a non-violent demonstration aiming to raise awareness about their imprisonment and the theft of their land, and express their frustration at the inaction of world leaders. One organiser told the media: "Like the Berlin Wall at the time, Israel's wall seems to us an undefiable reality, but twice this week it has caved in to the pressure of ordinary people fighting for their rights.” DCI-Palestine views Israel’s continued construction of the Wall as stemming from the international community’s failure to adequately pressure Israel to cease construction of the Wall on Palestinian land, or to call for the dismantling of portions that have already been built, whilst ensuring compensation for those who were affected by the construction. Issuing broad calls for action to assist those living under oppression is not enough - world leaders must act, now.