The Wall

William Sutcliffe

This is a story with a point of view, designed to expose the reader to the shocking political and personal tragedies of what is going on in Israeli occupied Palestine. But because it has a point of view, it feels to me like propaganda. I know that a book can't very easily express all sides of an issue, or even many sides. But Sutcliffe is developing an argument here, through story. If you know nothing of what it is like to live as an Israeli settler, or what it is like to live as a Palestinian in the vicinity of an Israeli settlement, then this is a good human interest fiction to give you one perspective. This story follows Joshua, a teen boy who has moved with his mother and stepfather to a settlement in the West Bank. The settlement is separated from the Palestinians by a wall, and the message is that all good happens here, and the other side of the wall is all evil and anger. Then Joshua discovers a tunnel under the wall and visits. He indeed finds evil and anger. But he also finds kindness and humanity. Only to discover that when he returns, he finds evil and anger on "his side" of the wall as well.

What I find a bit strange is that while I most likely agree with the political slant and personal opinions that I attribute to Sutcliffe through this novel, because it is so one sided, I still feel used. I guess I prefer to hear stories of solidarity, of people with extremist ideas moving a bit more to the center. Those stories are stories of hope, while here the extremism is stark. The emotions and the antagonism are so deep that hope for a personal or political change seems futile. In that regard, the novel is probably truly reflecting the reality for many.

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