“The Wall of Unity” קיר האחדות حائــط الوحــدة

1. “The Wall of Unity”קיר האחדותحائــط الوحــدة A Proposal for Envisioning an End to the Killing in the Middle East

2. “The Wall of Unity”קיר האחדותحائــط الوحــدة • A Case for Action • What is so right now? Violence in the Middle East is an epidemic. Acts of terror and violence against innocent civilians are frighteningly common. Acts of retaliation or “prevention” are equally common and have also harmed innocent civilians. The terrorists will never succeed in imposing their will. The Military acting in retaliation or “prevention” will never succeed in imposing their will. The cycle will continue forever.

3. “The Wall of Unity”קיר האחדותحائــط الوحــدة • What is the predictable future in this area? • The predictable future is all too predictable. The cycle of violence will continue. Terrorists will continue to inflict senseless violence on innocent civilians; the IDF will continue to retaliate or attempt to intervene to prevent terrorist acts. Regardless of the reason, and without assessing “fault,” the cycle will continue and men, women and children will die. No new way of viewing the future will emerge.

4. “The Wall of Unity”קיר האחדותحائــط الوحــدة • The way the future could be in this area if this possibility is created. • If this “possibility for peace” can be created, all people in the region will be able to envision a time when the cycle of violence will come to an end. This is not a political solution, merely an attempt to give concrete vision to a time when the killing will have stopped. There is no judgment; there is no “keeping score,” only a vision of a time when the violence will have concluded.

5. “The Wall of Unity”קיר האחדותحائــط الوحــدة • If this possibility can be created, the power, beauty and possibility of human beings in this ancient region of the world will have a chance to be realized.

6. “The Wall of Unity”קיר האחדותحائــط الوحــدة • The project consists of this: construction of a wall of remembrance, listing all victims of Middle East violence on all sides dating from (arbitrarily) January 1, 1984, made large enough to accommodate all those anticipated to lose their lives, before the violence ends.

7. “The Wall of Unity”קיר האחדותحائــط الوحــدة • The Wall of Unity would be loosely patterned on the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial Wall, located in Washington, D.C. The names of the victims of violence (including so-called perpetrators who have died) would have to be compiled and inscribed (possibly in multiple languages) on the wall. • See http://thewall-usa.com/information/

8. “The Wall of Unity”קיר האחדותحائــط الوحــدة • Because the time may not currently be right for finding a permanent installation, the Wall would likely have to be temporary in nature, along the lines of the traveling wall patterned after the Vietnam Veteran’s Wall. • See: http://themovingwall.org/

9. “The Wall of Unity”קיר האחדותحائــط الوحــدة • The specific measurable result called for, by September 1, 2005, consists of – • Commitments by the Editorial Boards of three Israeli newspapers, one Gaza newspaper and one West Bank newspaper, one Israeli peace organization (Peace Now) and one Palestinian peace organization…

10. “The Wall of Unity”קיר האחדותحائــط الوحــدة • …to (a) back the project by enabling fund raising and (b) committing to making the project happen in concrete form by December 31, 2006. Once a location and budget are determined, the design of The Wall of Unity may be the subject of an international competition.

11. “The Wall of Unity” קיר האחדותحائــط الوحــدة For more information, go to www.sfifer.com