The Hindu : International : Dismantle wall, World Court tells Israel

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Saturday, Jul 10, 2004

International

International

Dismantle wall, World Court tells Israel

By Atul Aneja

MANAMA, JULY 9. The World Court, in a landmark ruling, has said that the controversial "security barrier" that Israel has been building in occupied West Bank was illegal and must be dismantled. It has advised the United Nations to follow up on its ruling.

The court's decision is not binding, but can serve as a basis for U.N. action. Fourteen justices supported the decision and the sole opponent was the American judge, Thomas Buerghenthal.

"The construction of the wall and its associated regime are contrary to international law," the court said. The ruling pointed out that the combination of fences and walls that Israel was building, with the stated objective of keeping out suicide bombers, infringed upon the rights of Palestinian inhabitants and could not be justified on security considerations. "The wall, along the route chosen, and its associated regime, gravely infringe a number of rights of Palestinians residing in the territory occupied by Israel, and the infringements resulting from that route cannot be justified by military exigencies or by the requirements of national security or public order," Shi Jiuyong, the President of the World Court, said.

Palestinians are expected to seek an emergency session of the U.N. based on the report and hope to build a case for the imposition of sanctions against Israel. The route taken by the Israeli barrier deviates at several places from the "Green line" — the internationally recognised border between Israel and the West bank, and encompasses illegal Israeli settlements inside the West Bank. The Palestinian side has, therefore, maintained that the network of walls, fences and ditches is not only taking away their land, but also dividing their communities.

"We put tremendous faith in this court," said the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, on Thursday. Israel, on the contrary, has signalled that it would not abide by the ruling. The Israeli Justice Minister, Yosef Lapid, told the Israeli Army Radio on Friday, "We will abide by the ruling of our own High Court and not the panel in The Hague with judges from the E.U."

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