A fence against terror
From Nikki Ginsberg Sir: Following Emma Williams's article on the Israeli 'wall' (Trapped behind the wall', 15 May), it's time to talk facts, not fiction. The security fence is a temporary measure. It did not exist before the onslaught of terror attacks against Israel in September 2000 and it will be removed with the end of terror and the dismantling of terrorist organisations. In addition, the so-called wall is composed of 95 per cent chain-linked fence and only 5 per cent walled section, in areas vulnerable to sniper fire.
The fence has already proved its worth as a security measure. It has saved countless lives by significantly reducing the number of successful terrorist attacks in those areas in which it has been completed. Between April and December 2002 (before construction of the fence), 17 suicide attacks were committed within Israel by terrorists who infiltrated from Samaria. Yet in 2003 (after construction) there were only five attacks by terrorists infiltrating from Samaria.
The Palestinian people have a right to freedom of movement, but the Israelis have a right to life.
Nikki Ginsberg
London
From Arthur O'Connor Sir: Emma Williams's excellent report on the miseries caused by Israel's illegal wall asks if there is a way out of this cycle of violence. Of course there is and she touched on it in her report — that of a single binational state. The right of the Palestinians to return to their country must be enshrined in the solution and they must be compensated for their suffering and for their loss of dignity and humanity since the state of Israel, by an act of international brigandry of the order of the invasion of Iraq, was imposed on them in 1948. The resultant demographics would end the problem once and for all. The zealotry which stems from the beliefs of Judaism and Islam will erode as soon as ignorance and poverty in the area are wiped out and the funds invested in armaments are deployed in education and development.
Arthur O'Connor
Sunbury on Thames, Surrey
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