Add the $50 Million to the Fence

I think the Bush Administration could really send a message by taking the $50 million it had given to the Palestinian Authority and had recently asked to be returned and giving that money to the Israelis to help defray the costs of the security fence (or peace wall).

I also think that it would be wise of the administration to withhold some of that money and give it to the United Nations to help defray the cost of the security fence the UN wants to build around the New York headquarters while construction is going on. I just love the symbolism of the two gifts.

Some people are adamantly against the security fence in Israel but I'd be willing to bet these same folks see no problem with having a fence around their own yards or locking their doors at night. Personally - I see this fence as the modern equivalent of Hadrian's Wall which even today in England is looked at with some reverence.

When the Roman Emperor Hadrian visited Britain in 122 A.D he recognised the difficulties in establishing control in Caledonia and saw that it would be impossible to introduce the Picts to the Roman way of life. The Emperor therefore ordered the construction of a great defensive wall which would mark the northern limits of his empire and consolidate the hold on those parts of Britain already subdued. Hadrian's empire would not include Caledonia.

The Palestinian's will not take to civilized life with the Israeli's as neighbors any more than the English were ever able to subdue the wild folk of the Highlands Some people will argue that even today the Scottish aren't completely civilized (I of course would suggest no such thing).