The British Consulate's Arab neighbors in east Jerusalem are outraged at a security barrier being erected at the insistence of the British government to protect its diplomats, saying it reminds them of Israel's security fence in the West Bank, which Britain opposes.
The new barrier, consisting of several concrete slabs resembling those used by the IDF to seal off Palestinian villages and cities, is being built down the middle of Ragheb Nashashibi Street, narrowing the suburban-like street to half its width and forcing it to become one-way. The street is located in the fashionable Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of east Jerusalem.
Sources in the Jerusalem Municipality told The Jerusalem Post that British officials had originally demanded that the entire street be closed to traffic for security reasons. However, the request was turned down following protests from neighbors, the sources said. The new barrier is twice the size of similar walls erected around the United States's two consulates and information center in Jerusalem. Moreover, those barriers do not extend into the road.
So who is going to take the British to task? Who will bring a case against the British and their wall before the International Court of Justice? After all, the British were quite vocal in condemning the Israeli’s for their "security fence". I cannot wait to see the British defend their wall in the middle of a prominent Arab/Palestinian neighborhood. The depth of modern hypocrisy does appear to have no appreciable limits.
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