Yesh Matsav

Recently I went with longtime family friend Steve Wizner to visit the law school at Al Quds University in Abu Dis, which is just outside greater Jerusalem along route 1. Steve is on the international advisory board of the law school’s clinics, and decided to swing by to meet with the staff to learn about what’s going on and see if he could be of any help.

The visit was very interesting on a number of levels, but what is perhaps most striking for the first time visitor to Abu Dis is to experience up close the infamous wall that runs right through the town and next to the university. Regardless of the arguments for and against its value in preventing suicide bombers, or whether or not it is in fact an effort by the Israeli government to set de facto borders, its presence is oppressive and overwhelming. The pictures don’t at all capture it (click on the pictures on the right), but imagine going to university every day and being reminded that you’re effectively cut off from the world (at least from the West, which is where the wall stands). Hardly inspiring to hopeful graduates.

As we went to the center of town to get a hummus with Sahil, the clinic director, an Israeli army armored jeep rolled through town, with its thick armored glass and iron webbing over the windows such that you can’t see who’s inside. Just  anonymous power.

After saying goodbye, we passed through the comparatively innocuous checkpoint from Highway 1 into Jerusalem (you just drive through like a tollbooth), and we were back in Tel Aviv in less than an hour, sipping espresso and enjoying the beach.