Quote: ""We think there is an opportunity now, an opportunity we should not let go of," Solana told reporters following talks with Jordan's King Abdullah II in the capital city Amman. Solana departed for Israel, the last leg in a Mideast tour that included stops in the West Bank and Egypt. Commenting on the stalemate in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, Solana said, "It's been taking too long a time; the situation has not evolved, the peace process has not evolved, but we think this is the moment to give it a push and to see if we can put it back on track."

During his visit to the Palestinian territories, the High Representative also said he was shocked at the extent of the West Bank barrier, the peace wall that has saved possibly hundreds of innocent lives from Palestinian attacks, and the growth of Israeli settlements in the disputed territory. He urged Israel to stop building the wall and put an end to the housing developments.

Quote: "Solana said he was struck during a tour on Saturday of Arab towns on Jerusalem's eastern slopes that lie within West Bank land by the growth of settlements and a barrier cutting into land that Palestinians want for a state. "I had the opportunity to make a tour along the eastern part of Jerusalem and go to Abu Dis and its surroundings. You get really very shocked every time you go and you see the situation worse, the wall is more extended and settlements are more extended," Solana told reporters in Amman.

The question is, why in Solana's eyes is Israel only to blame for the erection of the peace wall? Why is the situation "worse", now that hundreds of lives have been saved in the prevention of terrorists breaching the border of Israel in order to kill Jews? Solana did urge the Israeli government no so long ago to ease the "oppression" of the Palestinian people by making it easier for them to cross into Israel. He received a scolding response from former Shimon Peres, who said Israel's first and foremost responsibility was to their own people, and Hamas were to blame for the situation. Belfast has had peace walls for years, but nobody ever complains that their freedoms are being restricted or that they are being oppressed. When peace comes, walls should theoretically come down, but to call for walls to come down while war is being waged against innocent civilians is complete lunacy, in any part of the world. I believe the walls will eventually come down though, possibly shortly before Russia and her Arab allies invade.

Ezekiel 38:10-12
Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy (Gog) mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought: And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages (Israel); I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates, To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land. 

Source Jerusalem Post, Haaretz, AlertNet