When Palestinians wake up every morning to the view of the newly constructed Wall in Qalandia, Ar-Ram, Qalqiliya and Nablus, they wonder if Israelis living on the other side understand the amount of pain, misery and injustice creeping on their days.

In an article published in Ha’aretz recently enitled “200,000 people out of bounds,” the writer describes the horrifying impact of the Wall on the lives of thousands of Palestinians, focusing on Sirhan Salayme, head of the Ar-Ram local council.

Ar-Ram is a neighborhood located in the northern perimeter of Jerusalem. It is one of the places where the 434-mile barrier is encroaching, dividing Ar-Ram’s main street in two, with one side becoming Jerusalem and the other part of Ramallah.

This Wall will change the lives of all those Palestinians living in Ar-Ram, from destroying their properties to isolating them from the rest of their town. Since Ar-Ram is already a small town, building a huge barrier will make its living conditions unbearable and adapting to this new situation will be impossible.

Another major issue is Palestinians holding a Jerusalem ID - to maintain this ID one has to live in Jerusalem governorate – with a housing shortage in east Jerusalem, thousands of Palestinians had to move to Ar-Ram, but when the Wall is built, lots of those Palestinians will now be considered residents of the West Bank thereby losing their IDs and the privileges they enjoy thereunder.

Salayme stressed in the article that Israelis who are in support of this Wall do not actually know its real impact on the majority of Palestinians and they would be astounded if they did see it.

Alternatively, there is a difference between enforced ignorance and selective ignorance. Israelis live 6km away from Ar-Ram, where the Wall is obviously slicing the roads and could not bother to walk down the street and make the choice of learning about their government’s own practices.

The Israeli government cannot enforce ignorance because Palestinians and Israelis live on the same ground and cannot be disconnected with drawn borders and gates; Israelis hold the choice of opening their minds and looking at the other side.

Israelis can go to Qalqiliya and observe the width and height of the Wall. They can see the lives that are being torn and shattered behind it. They have the power to go to Nablus and see blocks that are eating up fertile lands that provide shelter and livelihoods. They can walk the street down to Ar-Ram and watch their soldiers destroying the roads and then boasting at the chaos they have created.

It would be frightening to think that Israelis are selecting to be ignorant and silenced, because by doing that they are burying any chance for coexistence and peace between the two peoples.

Ignorance will only lead to more destruction, destruction of souls and strength, and will spread more hatred than people can endure.

Israelis should enforce knowledge, knowledge that would reveal injustice and promote humanity, knowledge that would give ordinary people the conscious choice to refuse their government’s practices and compel freedom and a decent living upon themselves and Palestinians.