On June 12, 1987, Ronald Reagan faced the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin and uttered the famous words, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” On Nov. 9, 1989, the wall actually came down after 28 years and two states that had been divided became one again.

Another wall of separation now stretches in a serpentine manner throughout the West Bank separating Israeli “settlers” from Palestinians as well as Palestinians from Palestinians. Former President Jimmy Carter accurately characterized it as an apartheid wall. The wall is an Israeli government tool for creating a state that has room for only one religion and one race.

It is time for another American president to face another wall of shame and say, “Mr. Netanyahu, tear down this wall!” Tearing down the wall could lead the way for Israel and Palestine to come together in a single, secular state with no requirements for religion or race for citizenship. People could worship freely, they could work and do business together, and their children could attend the same public schools. Lest someone object that this is a utopian vision and totally unrealistic, such a system is working in the United States.

John Hurd
Clinton