This Land is My Land...

USATODAY.com has a fascinating op-ed by Sharif Omar, a farmer and community leader, and a member of the Land Defense Committee for the region of Qalqilya. His essay explains why his community has taken up the cause of non-violent resistance to oppose the construction of Israel's "Security Fence".

An excerpt:

During one peaceful march, an Israeli military officer explained to me that Sarah, the wife of our common ancestor Abraham, was their mother but not ours, and that because Sarah went to heaven, Jews were entitled to the land. After his lecture, he used tear gas and rubber-coated bullets to break up our protest.

I've chosen peaceful resistance to the wall because, as a father, I feel pain when my children are hurt. I have the same feeling for Israelis. I don't want to cause them pain. Peaceful resistance also avoids giving the Israeli military justifications to kill more Palestinians. I hope peaceful protests will leave a positive impact on Israeli soldiers and strengthen our partnership with Israeli peace groups.

Read the whole thing. Not only is the building of this Wall against the wishes of our Administration, it is going to ensure that this conflict stays unresolved. We should demand greater accountability from our client state.