The US-Canadian border is one of the longest demilitarized borders in the world. In the past few years, and I have personally crossed it multiple times with only a birth certificate, and a letter from my mother. This morning I visited the Israeli- Gaza border – one of the most tense borders in the world, where missiles cross instead of people.
Our group visited Sderot, a city about 1000 meters from the Gaza Strip, which is also known as the bomb shelter capital of the world. In America, we have sirens for tornados, floods, storms, but in Sderot there are sirens for rockets. These days, things such as the Iron Dome, sirens, and bomb shelters protect Sderot. But still Sderot is not protected enough and the buck stop with the Palestinian government that rules the Gaza strip:
With all the money the Palestinians have received for humanitarian aid, most of it goes into the corrupt officials pocketbooks, where it is used to further terrorist activities and rocket attacks. In fact, LT. Noa Krakov stated that Hamas is “arming for the next battle”. By planning to force another conflict, the Palestinian leadership has shown its irresponsibility, and ruins hopes of an end to the conflict.
Until the leadership in Gaza can show its responsibility, the border will remain tense as ever, and there is no hope for attaining a peaceful resolution. Until the leadership in Gaza can show its responsibility, the people will be forced to live in fear. Until the leadership in Gaza can show its responsibility, conflict will remain. So until that responsibility is gained, the Gaza border will remain the complete opposite of the Canadian border I know so well.