Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion

You just knew this had to rear its head on the 20th anniversary of the Berlin Wall. The anti-Israel left is demanding Mr. Netanyahu, Tear Down This Wall:

On the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Western leaders are full of self-congratulation. But their paeans to universal freedom ring hollow, when they bear large responsibility for another wall constricting human freedom: the apartheid wall dividing the Palestinian West Bank.

History is such an inconvenient truth. The way the coalition of Islamists and leftists tell it, one would think Israel just woke up one day on the wrong side of the bed and decided, "let's build a wall." Or that the wall (actually a combination of fences, walls, and other barriers) has been in place for decades.

In fact, the barrier built by Israel was a direct reaction to Palestinian suicide bombings commenced as part of the Second Intifada in 2000, which took almost a thousand Israeli lives. Suicide bombers slipped past the unprotected border to blow themselves up in Pizza restaurants, buses, supermarkets, hotels, and anywhere else they could find civilians.

The barrier was built to keep suicide bombers out, and it worked, much to the chagrin of the Palestinians. In 2002 452 Israelis were killed; that number dropped by half in 2003, and now almost no suicide bombers get through, although they still try. Ironically, the barrier also saved Palestinian lives by lessening the need for Israeli military actions in the West Bank to prevent suicide bombers.

One can quibble over the best path for the barrier, and the Israelis argue among themselves over the proper path. But to compare the Israeli barrier to the Berlin wall does violence to history.

The Israelis built a wall for protection from people who wanted to kill them. The East Germans built a wall to oppress and control their own people.

In yet another futile publicity stunt, some Palestinians tore down a piece of the wall on November 9, to gain some press coverage off of the Berlin celebrations. And the fools who cheer them on do more damage to the peace process than any wall ever could, by perpetuating the false Palestinian narrative of perpetual victimhood.

Mr. Netanyahu, keep up that wall as long as the Palestinians have suicide bombers who want to blow up Israel's children.

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