Tear down the walls!

“Something there is that doesn’t like a wall.” (Robert Frost) But there are dozens of the damn things going up all over the world to prevent immigration or enforce apartheid. They’re barbaric & an assault to human freedom & the spirit of international good will. They go back a long way in human history because the rulers have always been too stupid to understand that human beings will not be deterred by impediments that can be crossed or torn down. Most of the old ones are now tourist attractions like the Great Wall of China & the remnants of the Berlin Wall.

The new ones--in Asia, Africa, North America, Europe--are built of cement or steel or chicken wire; they’re erected with malice & hatred & guarded by armed men & vicious dogs. Much of the barrier wall cutting off the West Bank & Gaza from Israel has become a palette for rebellious graffiti like the section of the wall here in Bethlehem, West Bank. The monstrous eyesore closing off the US from Mexico has caused hundreds of immigrant deaths, violated the land rights of indigenous peoples, caused environmental ruin, disturbed major avian migration routes, broken dozens of laws, & violated every human right in the book.

It is long since time for men & women of good will to tear down the walls & to initiate an era of human solidarity by opposing the stupidity, insularity, racism, & greed of our rulers. While they are on a rampage to break down all obstacles to global plunder they build one wall after another to divide us from each other. This historic task may require moving them from the gated communities where they live isolated from the rest of us to the gated penitentiaries where they belong (of course, without denying them due process along the way). So if they're wise, they won't shred the entire Bill of Rights. They may need it someday.

This song by Roger Waters titled "We Shall Overcome: Song for Palestine" is an anthem to our historic mandate to tear down the walls & make this world suitable for human beings to live & love in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCKEmoc4hp0

(Photo by Libertinus at Flickr)