I congratulate the NY Times on calling the "wall" that Israel is building what it actually is, a "barrier". This is the best descriptive noun, because as the last paragraph of the article states:

In most areas, the barrier consists of an electronic fence accompanied by razor wire, trenches and guard towers. Some sections include concrete walls more than 20 feet high.

That is probably the most fair description I've read in the press in a long time.

It's still interesting though how the words "wall" and "fence" are used throughout the article by various people. Agree or not if you will, but understand what it is you're arguing about.

Read it all here: Israel to Begin Controversial Phase of Barrier Construction

In part, this controversy reminds me of a visit to the NY City area made by a friend from Minnesota (this was about 20 years ago). After driving just a few minutes north of the city, she commented on how she had no idea there were mountains and so much green in New York. You could write it off to ignorance, but the fact is that much of what you get in the media regarding New York is concrete jungle. The vast majority of photos that you see of the Israeli "barrier" are the wall parts and not the fence parts because it doesn't "tell the story" as well. My personal understanding is that 90% of the barrier is made up of fence and not concrete.