Plans to Paint Separation Fence

Maâariv (p. 5) by Ilil Shahar --

Foreign Ministry public relations experts have come to the conclusion that the time has arrived to decrease the public relations damage that the giant concrete slabs of the separation fence cause Israel.

Members of the Israeli public relations team who are to attend the hearing at the International Court of Justice at The Hague yesterday toured the route of the fence and brainstormed as to how to turn the concrete wall that is geared to stop terror attacks into something that is just a little more aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Team members urged Foreign Ministry officials to paint the concrete slabs in happier colors.

Out of the 200 kilometers of the separation fence that have been built to date, ten kilometers are concrete wall. Eight kilometers of concrete wall have been built in the area of Kalkilya, Baka el-Gharbiya and Matan, and another two kilometers of concrete wall have been built in the area of Abu Dis in East Jerusalem. The plan is to have a total of 21 kilometers of the route of the fence take the form of a concrete wall.

The Palestinians use the wall for public relations purposes and even though the concrete doesn't constitute even one tenth of the route of the fence, they cast the fence as if it were entirely a wall, spread photographs of those sections throughout the world, and attack us,said a Foreign Ministry official yesterday. If the wall is painted, it will be more aesthetic, and the public relations damage will be reduced.

Meanwhile, The Hague municipality yesterday authorized Zaka, the Israeli victims identification unit, to put on display in the city streets the burned out hulk of a bombed bus. Zaka officials have decided to ship to The Hague the skeleton of the Egged bus number 19 that was the scene of a suicide bombing attack last Thursday in Jerusalem. The tight timetable will not allow Zaka the option of shipping the bus to Holland by sea. Instead, the bus will be cut into two, and will be flown to Holland.