not so clear cut

Jim Lindgren points to this article in the Weekly Standard about a recent proclamation by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America regarding the "security fence" that Israel is building to protect itself from terrorists. On the one hand, I agree that too many people look at the Israel/Palestinian problem and see all evil on one side and none on the other. On the other hand, maybe the wall isn't such a great idea after all. As Sheldon Richman points out over at Liberty and Power:

Since Jewish settlements exist throughout the occupied territory, the wall snakes all around, taking up formerly Arab-owned land and cutting Palestinian towns off from the groves and farms where many residents work. The people living in those towns will need permission from the Israeli authorities to go anywhere.

Lindgren concludes, "It seems as if elites are more prone to certain kinds of moral blindness and excusing of evil." Is it moral blindess and excusing evil to see that the wall affects the innocent as well as the guilty? Israel is in a rough spot, to say the least, and I don't really know enough about the situation to comment one way or the other, but surely it's not an unreasonable position to be skeptical of the desirability of the "security fence".

UPDATE: Jim Lindgren responds with a thoughtful update to his original post. Check it out and check back here later today when I, too, will have a thoughtful response.

UPDATE 2: Response to Lindgren is here.