The Wall and Humanity
January 28 2017 By Abiodun Giwa
The Berlin Wall built to keep East Germans under repression (Courtesy:livebooklet.com)
When children of Israel were escaping from their Egyptian task masters, the Bible revealed that the waters of the Red Sea formed a wall, to allow Israelis cross to safety.
The wall of water collapsed and drowned the Egyptian warriors, who were pursuing the Israelis to keep them from escaping from slavery. Similar incident was reported, when they crossed the Jordan River - water formed a wall for them to cross.
These days, so much is being talked about the Berlin Wall and its eventual historical collapse. "The Berlin Wall. During the early years of the Cold War, West Berlin was a geographical loophole through which thousands of East Germans fled to the democratic West. In response, the Communist East German authorities built a wall that totally encircled West Berlin. It was thrown up overnight, on 13 August 1961," BBC writes about The Berlin Wall,
The wall was built overnight, which meant that many hands must been employed and that people hardly knew about the beginning and conclusion of its construction work. People woke up and found the wall was in place and could no longer cross from the West to the East.
The people in the East and West Germany were essentially the same people, but separated by an unseen wall of politics and economy. The East was communist and the west was democratic. The people under the communist regime were repressed and the repression caused them to seek ways to the west to escape repression. And the east, to keep its people from escaping, found solution in erecting a wall to keep its people from running away, and keep them under repression.
Today, the United States' government says it want to build a wall on the country's border with Mexico, to keep down the influx of illegal migrants. People in the U.S. are divided on political lines over whether to build the wall or not. The U.S is an independent country, just as Mexico is an independent country. Both country are democratic. Just like many countries in Africa are democratic like the countries in Europe, but the politics and the economies in African countries is incomparable to the economies in EU countries.
Despite the natural wall that Mediterrenean represents between Africa and Europe, many people in Africa still cross over to Europe, but at times with serious consequences. There is also a natural wall between Africa and the U.S. on one hand and between the Asian countries and the U.S on another hand. For people in Africa and Asia to reach the U.S, they have to go through official procedure of obtaining visas and traveling by air to get to the U.S. But between the U.S and Mexico, there is a wide expanse of land, sometimes unmanned and this makes it possible for people to cross from Mexico with ease into the U.S. These migrants may not be Mexicans.
Even when border patrol officers watch over the border, the human traffic between the two countries is said to have reached a level that makes border patrol ineffective. Worse is that many people around the world, who want to come to the U.S. illegally without obtaining the visa can go to the countries bordering Mexico, then travel to Mexico and walk into the U.S.
This explanation is necessary in view of the reports widely reported around the world about the view expressed by the Berlin Mayor Michael Mueller, arguing against the proposed wall by the U.S., to keep its border away from use by dangerous elements and also to control migration into the country, like other countries around the world.
Of course, Americans are aware about the discussion to build or not build the wall. Unlike the case of Berliners who woke up and found a wall. The argument by pro-wall groups is that If the wall eventually comes up between the U.S. and Mexico, whoever wants to travel to the U.S. will also be required to obtain a visa and get on the aircraft or travel by road armed with the documents of approval like every other people around the world.
It thus seems like there is no basis for comparison between the reason behind the building of the Berlin Wall within the German enclave and a wall being proposed between two different countries, where no one is under repression.
The wall of water collapsed and drowned the Egyptian warriors, who were pursuing the Israelis to keep them from escaping from slavery. Similar incident was reported, when they crossed the Jordan River - water formed a wall for them to cross.
These days, so much is being talked about the Berlin Wall and its eventual historical collapse. "The Berlin Wall. During the early years of the Cold War, West Berlin was a geographical loophole through which thousands of East Germans fled to the democratic West. In response, the Communist East German authorities built a wall that totally encircled West Berlin. It was thrown up overnight, on 13 August 1961," BBC writes about The Berlin Wall,
The wall was built overnight, which meant that many hands must been employed and that people hardly knew about the beginning and conclusion of its construction work. People woke up and found the wall was in place and could no longer cross from the West to the East.
The people in the East and West Germany were essentially the same people, but separated by an unseen wall of politics and economy. The East was communist and the west was democratic. The people under the communist regime were repressed and the repression caused them to seek ways to the west to escape repression. And the east, to keep its people from escaping, found solution in erecting a wall to keep its people from running away, and keep them under repression.
Today, the United States' government says it want to build a wall on the country's border with Mexico, to keep down the influx of illegal migrants. People in the U.S. are divided on political lines over whether to build the wall or not. The U.S is an independent country, just as Mexico is an independent country. Both country are democratic. Just like many countries in Africa are democratic like the countries in Europe, but the politics and the economies in African countries is incomparable to the economies in EU countries.
Despite the natural wall that Mediterrenean represents between Africa and Europe, many people in Africa still cross over to Europe, but at times with serious consequences. There is also a natural wall between Africa and the U.S. on one hand and between the Asian countries and the U.S on another hand. For people in Africa and Asia to reach the U.S, they have to go through official procedure of obtaining visas and traveling by air to get to the U.S. But between the U.S and Mexico, there is a wide expanse of land, sometimes unmanned and this makes it possible for people to cross from Mexico with ease into the U.S. These migrants may not be Mexicans.
Even when border patrol officers watch over the border, the human traffic between the two countries is said to have reached a level that makes border patrol ineffective. Worse is that many people around the world, who want to come to the U.S. illegally without obtaining the visa can go to the countries bordering Mexico, then travel to Mexico and walk into the U.S.
This explanation is necessary in view of the reports widely reported around the world about the view expressed by the Berlin Mayor Michael Mueller, arguing against the proposed wall by the U.S., to keep its border away from use by dangerous elements and also to control migration into the country, like other countries around the world.
Of course, Americans are aware about the discussion to build or not build the wall. Unlike the case of Berliners who woke up and found a wall. The argument by pro-wall groups is that If the wall eventually comes up between the U.S. and Mexico, whoever wants to travel to the U.S. will also be required to obtain a visa and get on the aircraft or travel by road armed with the documents of approval like every other people around the world.
It thus seems like there is no basis for comparison between the reason behind the building of the Berlin Wall within the German enclave and a wall being proposed between two different countries, where no one is under repression.
