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Wednesday, November 11, 2009

The easy and false analogies of walls

The 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall allows lazy journalists and pundits to weigh in on the evils of that "other" wall that has saved the lives of countless Jews.

Guardian cartoonist Steve Bell, who has been obsessed with vilifying Israel with often anti-semitic images, weighs in with a cartoon that says that Israel's wall is "twice as high and four times as long." CiF Watch discusses the absurd (and factually incorrect) analogy and links to many of Bell's previous anti-Israel cartoons.

One of the commenters mentions the "Peace Wall," a barrier up to 25 feet high that separates Protestants from Catholics in Belfast and elsewhere. The Guardian is certainly aware of it. Somehow, that and other walls don't bother Bell as much as a wall that is meant to save Israeli lives.

HonestReporting Canada also notes journalists who are making this ridiculous analogy.