At the height of the Cold War, then U.S. President Ronald Reagan went to Berlin, where standing next to the landmark of that era, he called on Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down this wall." Today, a similar symbol of repression separates the Gaza Strip from the rest of the world.
The desperation that governs the lives of Gaza residents was on display last week when the fence that marks their territory was broached and hundreds of thousands of them flooded into Egypt in search of food and other necessities. This situation must end; the punishment of the Gazan people must stop.
Fearing that unfettered access to the Gaza Strip would create a sanctuary for its enemies, Israel closely regulates the territory's borders. Earlier this month, after a barrage of rockets were fired at Israeli towns and farms by Palestinian militants within Gaza, the government of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert closed the borders, depriving Gaza of virtually all supplies, including the fuel that runs the territory's main power plant.