The Guardian Walls Out Israelis, Suicide Bombers, and Balance

An interactive feature at The Guardian look at walls and barriers around the world. From the US-Mexico border, to the…

By November 20, 2013

An interactive feature at The Guardian look at walls and barriers around the world. From the US-Mexico border, to the 2,500 mile barrier separating India and Bangladesh, along with 99 walls separating Belfast’s Protestant and Catholic neighborhoods, call it “wall-to-wall coverage.”

Israel’s security barrier is featured too.

Harriet Sherwood (with some credited assistance from B’Tselem) has plenty of comments, photos and videos of Palestinians talking about how the wall impacts their lives.

Left outside The Guardian gates, unfortunately, are Israelis sharing how the security barrier impacts their lives. That would mean addressing the deadly Palestinian suicide bombers who wreaked havoc in the streets of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv during the second intifada.

But why let journalistic balance ruin a perfect mood created by Sherwood, B’Tselem, and five photogenic Palestinians?

Since The Guardian won’t deign to talk to Israelis, I’ll let Ramadan Shalah — the far less alluring Palestinian Islamic Jihad chief — make my point instead. The barrier keeps out terrorists.

[sc:bottomsignup ]

© Divuach Ne’eman R”A, 2025

Pesach Benson

Pesach Benson

A Baltimore native, Pesach was with HonestReporting from 2011 to 2020. He edited the Israel Daily News Stream and authored the e-book, Red Lines: HonestReporting’s 8 Categories of Media Bias. Before moving to Israel in 1995, he worked as a reporter for the Baltimore Jewish Times. Pesach has a B.A. in political science from the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, where he was executive editor of the campus newspaper.

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