"Wall of Shame" (German : Schandmauer) is a phrase that is most commonly associated with the Berlin Wall. [1] In this context, the phrase was coined by Willy Brandt, and it was used by the government of West Berlin, and later popularized in the English-speaking world and elsewhere from the beginning of the 1960s. Inspired by its usage in reference to the Berlin Wall, the term has later been used more widely.
For example, the term "Wall of Shame" can be applied to things, including physical barriers (walls, fences, etc.) serving dishonourable or disputed separation purposes (like the Berlin Wall and the American border wall), physical and virtual bulletin boards listing names or images for purposes of shaming, and even lists in print (i.e., walls of text naming people, companies, etc. for the purpose of shaming them, or as record of embarrassment).
Additionally, "Wall of Shame" may be a significant part in the building of a "Hall of Shame", although, more often, a "Wall of Shame" is a monument in its own right (i.e., a wall not having been erected as part of any "Hall of Shame" endeavour). More recently, the term "Wall of Shame" has been used in reference to the Mexico–United States barrier, [2] the Egypt–Gaza barrier, [3] the Israeli West Bank barrier [4] and Moroccan Western Sahara Wall. [5]
The earliest use of the term, which is a translation of a Japanese phrase, may have been by Ruth Benedict, in her influential book, The Chrysanthemum and the Sword (1948), and other anthropologists discussing the honor shame culture of Japan. [6]
The term was used by the government of West Berlin to refer to the Berlin Wall, which surrounded West Berlin and separated it from East Berlin and the GDR. In 1961, the government of East Germany named the erected wall as the "Anti-Fascist Protection Rampart", a part of the inner German border; many Berliners, however, called it "Schandmauer" ("Wall of Shame").
The term was coined by governing mayor Willy Brandt. [7] Outside Germany it first appeared as "Wall of Shame" in a cover story published by TIME in 1962, [8] and President of the United States John F. Kennedy used the term in his Annual Message to the US Congress on the State of the Union, 14 January 1963. [9] Often, graffiti would be painted on points, where a street would intersect with the wall, often reading, "Road blocked by Wall of Shame".
The Berlin Wall was referred to as the "Wall of Shame" in many more recent notable contexts, such as:
The Gaza Strip, or simply Gaza, is a Palestinian exclave on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, bordered by Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the east and north. Together, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank make up the State of Palestine, which has been under Israeli military occupation since 1967.
"Ich bin ein Berliner" is a speech by United States President John F. Kennedy given on June 26, 1963, in West Berlin. It is one of the best-known speeches of the Cold War and among the most famous anti-communist speeches.
The Palestinian territories are the two regions of the former British Mandate for Palestine that have been militarily occupied by Israel since the Six-Day War of 1967, namely: the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has referred to the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as "the Occupied Palestinian Territory", and this term was used as the legal definition by the ICJ in its advisory opinion of July 2004. The term occupied Palestinian territory was used by the United Nations and other international organizations between October 1999 and December 2012 to refer to areas controlled by the Palestinian National Authority, but from 2012, when Palestine was admitted as one of its non-member observer states, the United Nations started using exclusively the name State of Palestine. The European Union (EU) also adopts the term "occupied Palestinian territory", with a parallel term Palestinian Authority territories also occasionally used. The government of Israel and its supporters use the label "disputed territories" instead.
The Israeli West Bank barrier, comprising the West Bank Wall and the West Bank fence, is a separation barrier built by Israel along the Green Line and inside parts of the West Bank. It is a contentious element of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict: Israel describes the wall as a necessary security barrier against Palestinian political violence, whereas Palestinians describe it as an element of racial segregation and a representation of Israeli apartheid. At a total length of 708 kilometres (440 mi) upon completion, the route traced by the barrier is more than double the length of the Green Line, with 15% of its length running along the Green Line or inside Israel, and the remaining 85% running as much as 18 kilometres (11 mi) inside the West Bank, effectively isolating about 9% of the land and approximately 25,000 Palestinians from the rest of the Palestinian territory.
A separation barrier or separation wall is a barrier, wall or fence, constructed to limit the movement of people across a certain line or border, or to separate peoples or cultures. A separation barrier that runs along an internationally recognized border is known as a border barrier.
The Gaza–Israel barrier is a border barrier located on the Israeli side of the Gaza–Israel border. The Erez Crossing, in the north of the Gaza Strip, is the only crossing point for people and goods coming from Israel into the Gaza Strip; there exists a second crossing point in the barrier, called the Kerem Shalom border crossing, which is exclusive for the crossing of goods coming from Egypt, as Israel does not allow goods to go directly from Egypt into Gaza through the Egypt–Gaza border.
The Green Line, (pre-)1967 border, or 1949 Armistice border is the demarcation line set out in the 1949 Armistice Agreements between the armies of Israel and those of its neighbors after the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. It served as the de facto borders of the State of Israel from 1949 until the Six-Day War in 1967, and continues to represent Israel’s internationally recognized borders with the two Palestinian territories: the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Israeli-occupied territories are the lands that were captured and occupied by Israel during the Six-Day War of 1967. While the term is currently applied to the Palestinian territories and the Golan Heights, it has also been used to refer to areas that were formerly occupied by Israel, namely the Sinai Peninsula and southern Lebanon. Prior to Israel's victory in the Six-Day War, governance of the Palestinian territories was split between Egypt and Jordan, with the former having occupied the Gaza Strip and the latter having annexed the West Bank; the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights were under the sovereignty of Egypt and Syria, respectively. The first conjoined usage of the terms "occupied" and "territories" with regard to Israel was in United Nations Security Council Resolution 242, which was drafted in the aftermath of the Six-Day War and called for: "the establishment of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East" to be achieved by "the application of both the following principles: ... Withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict ... Termination of all claims or states of belligerency and respect for and acknowledgment of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of every State in the area and their right to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force."
The modern borders of Israel exist as the result both of past wars and of diplomatic agreements between the State of Israel and its neighbours, as well as an effect of the agreements among colonial powers ruling in the region before Israel's creation. Only two of Israel's five total potential land borders are internationally recognized and uncontested, while the other three remain disputed; the majority of its border disputes are rooted in territorial changes that came about as a result of the 1967 Arab–Israeli War, which saw Israel occupy large swathes of territory from its rivals. Israel's two formally recognized and confirmed borders exist with Egypt and Jordan since the 1979 Egypt–Israel peace treaty and the 1994 Israel–Jordan peace treaty, while its borders with Syria, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories remain internationally defined as contested.
On 23 January 2008, Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip set off an explosion near the Rafah border crossing, destroying part of the 2003 wall. The United Nations estimates that as many as half the 1.5 million population of the Gaza Strip crossed the border into Egypt seeking food and supplies. Due to fears that militants would acquire weapons in Egypt, Israeli police went on increased alert.
The Gaza–Israel conflict is a localized part of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. The conflict originated with the election of the Islamist political party Hamas in 2005 and 2006, in the Gaza Strip and escalated with the split of the Palestinian Authority Palestinian government into the Fatah government in the West Bank and the Hamas government in Gaza and the following violent ousting of Fatah after Fatah lost the election to Hamas. Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel, Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, and the joint Egyptian-Israeli blockade of Gaza have exacerbated the conflict. The international community considers attacks on civilians and civilian structures that do not discriminate between civilians and military targets illegal under international law.
The Iron Curtain is a political metaphor used to describe the political boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. The term symbolizes the efforts by the Soviet Union (USSR) to block itself and its satellite states from open contact with the West, its allies and neutral states. On the east side of the Iron Curtain were the countries that were connected to or influenced by the Soviet Union, while on the west side were the countries that were NATO members, or connected to or influenced by the United States; or nominally neutral. Separate international economic and military alliances were developed on each side of the Iron Curtain. It later became a term for the 7,000-kilometre-long (4,300 mi) physical barrier of fences, walls, minefields, and watchtowers that divided the "east" and "west". The Berlin Wall was also part of this physical barrier.
A blockade has been imposed by Israel and Egypt on the movement of goods and people in and out of the Gaza Strip since 2005. After Hamas' takeover in 2007, the blockade aimed to isolate Hamas and prevent the smuggling of weapons into Gaza. It has also led to significant humanitarian challenges, as it restricts the flow of essential goods, contributes to economic hardship, and limits the freedom of movement for Gaza's residents.
Hafrada is the policy of the government of Israel to separate the Israeli population from the Palestinian population in the occupied Palestinian territories, in both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
The Egypt–Gaza barrier is a steel border barrier constructed by Egypt along its 14 kilometres border with the Gaza Strip. The Rafah border crossing is the only border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.
The Egypt–Israel barrier or Egypt–Israel border fence refers to a separation barrier built by Israel along its border with Egypt. Initial construction on the barrier began on 22 November 2010, and its original purpose as a common fence was to curb the large influx of illegal migrants from African countries into Israel. However, in the wake of the Egyptian Crisis after the 2011 Revolution, Israel's southwestern border with Egypt experienced an increase in militant jihadist activity with the outbreak of the Sinai insurgency. In response, Israel upgraded the steel barrier—called Project Hourglass by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF)—to include cameras, radars, and motion detectors. In January 2013, construction on the barrier's main section was completed; the final section was completed in December 2013.
The Levantine Sea is the easternmost part of the Mediterranean Sea.
Egypt–Palestine relations are the bilateral relations between the Arab Republic of Egypt and the State of Palestine. Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser was a strong supporter of the Palestinian cause and he favored self-determination for the Palestinians. Although the Egyptian government has maintained a good relationship with Israel since the Camp David Accords, most Egyptians strongly resent Israel, and disapprove of the close relationship between the Israeli and Egyptian governments.
The Egypt–Gaza border is the 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) long border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. There is a buffer zone along the border which is about 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) long.
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)At the very top of the hill, is the final insult that Lima adds to the injurious effects of poverty: a wall, ten feet high, garlanded with razor wire. ... They call it the Wall of Shame.