Psychological

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Psychology was used to create a physical barrier between the Palestinians and the Israleas with two concepts; elasticity and the media economy. Elasticity suggests the barrier was constantly changing dependent on the agenda of Prime Minister Sharon and various interest groups. Under the guise of "security", decisions were made to move sections of the wall to adress issues of "territory, demography, water, and archeology" (p162). This concept explains the “embodiment of the state ideology” and that it is not only a physical barrier created to provide security, but also one designed for political and economic gain. (p162). Sharon studied "bantustan”; the segregation of people based on race, from the Apartheid model existing in South Africa at the time. Weizman believed that what was happening to the Palestinians was in fact a worse form of Apartheid than existed in South Africa as there had never been a walled state there. (p. 171) Weizman also refers to the "diffused authorship of the project" which made elasticity possible (p163). This suggests that Sharon was not the lone decisonmaker in terms the fluxuations in the barrier. The media economy was perpetuated by both Palestinians and Israelis to draw the world stage to their causes. Images such as fencing dividing farmer's fields were released to the media to maximize the response. However, it was the obvious unattractiveness of the wall that became the main reason for international opposition to its construction (Weizman, 161). Images of the cold war came to mind in comparison. (p 171). 'The Battle of Algiers' showed how curfews were implemented around the Casbah, and the difference in how each race was treated at checkpoints.
 * WHY THIS CONCEPT? **

This psychological separation is a form of power, which according to Foucault, can be everywhere, anywhere and at anytime and it is only felt when executed by a subject. This power relation is often subtle, and is not recognized at first. (Foucault,) This form of separation is seen across time in sovereign, disciplinary and control society and is achieved through the use of surveillance, the spectacle and the fabrication of semantics; both use powerful imagery to control society. Surveillance is a an essential factor when discussing psychological separation. The wall is an example of control society; the wall is used much like the Panopticon. Guards protect the wall which is situated on top of the mountain where they cannot be seen by people; they are omnipresent, omniscient, permanently visible but at the same time unverifiable. The individual, as a result, self-regulates because he constantly feels like he is being monitored. The spectacle often imposes power on others through the use of violence. Subjects, who watch or hear the spectacle, often self-regulate as they fear that this may happen to them if they to follow the rules. The separation is, therefore, imposed by fear and anxiety. Semantics also has the ability to impose control much like the spectacle; however the subject becomes the agent. In other words, the people are the ones who impose these rules on themselves without realizing that they are being controlled. In the example of the wall, the segment was divided into separate parts and given to different groups of people; as a result, these groups were under the impression that it was their own wall and they were keeping people out rather than realizing this wall was to keep them in (162). This is another example of how elite groups are able regulate people through the use of semiotics and by altering the meaning of the wall. Another substantial example of how semantics can seem to offer people power and a voice but it is merely simulated. During the wall separation a “High Court of Justice” was created for people to voice their concerns; this created a sense that they had power. This court was, however, only organized to avoid rebellion and violence, and never had the intention in considering people’s worries or suggestions. This artificial institution was only built to protect the government. This mock institution gave people a false sense that they had power over their government; government essentially used semantics to prevent conflict and preserve the power of the government. The use of surveillance, spectacle and semantics are three methods that have a psychological implementations and do not resort on physically restraining or controlling the individual. This, in other words, is all in their head. The Israeli Ministry of Defense still states that the wall is a temporary solution which was urgently necessary to prevent urgent security threats (Weizman, 172). Thus, by stating that this prevention of movement across boundaries is only a temporary fix, these extreme measures are legally tolerated (Weizman, 172).
 * WHERE IS IT FOUND? **

This reading enables us to realize that power can be implemented both physically and psychologically. It also allows us to understand how people can be controlled without even realizing it through the use of semantics. The politics of separation allows us to see how a physical divider can result in a psychological one by convincing each side that those on the other side of the wall are to blame.
 * WHAT DOES IT ENABLE US TO DO? **

This reading enables us to understand how cites are shaped through architecture, people and power relations between citizens and governments. This is an example of the how people understand the city according to lived, perceived and conceived space and how these three elements come to play during times of turmoil. Moreover, it allows us to understand how the visible (i.e visible wall) organizes the city. The physical is often considered more important that the psychological because everyone can see the visible, but only live through the events can truly understand the psychological implications. This, as a result, undermines the psychological which can be often more traumatizing than the physical.
 * WHAT IS ITS RELATION TO VISUAL CULTURE? **

Michel Foucault, “The Subject and Power,” in Foucault, Power: Essential Works of Foucault, 1954-1984, volume 3, edited by James D. Faubion, The New Press, 2000: 326-348.
 * Works Cited **

Eyal Weizman, “The Wall: Barrier Archipelagos and the Impossible Politics of Separation,” //Hollow Land//, London: Verso, 2007, pp. 161-182.