An interesting article from (you guessed it) the Economist on the "Security Wall" the Israelis are building and the ICJ ruling:
OTB
Israel’s illegal but unstoppable barrier
Jul 12th 2004
From The Economist Global Agenda
The International Court of Justice has ruled that the barrier Israel is building in the West Bank is illegal and has demanded reparations for Palestinians affected by it. There will now be pressure for sanctions to make Israel stop building the barrier but its construction is likely to continue
TO MOST Israelis, the 630km (390-mile) barrier their government is constructing in the West Bank, consisting of concrete walls, barbed-wire fences, trenches and patrol roads, is a legitimate defence against Palestinian suicide-bombers. The Israeli government insists that the barrier—of which 185km is already completed—is only a temporary security measure and has no political significance. To Palestinians, who see the barrier carving out chunks of their farmland and cutting off their villages, it looks like a land grab, designed to stop them ever having a viable Palestinian state by slicing their territory into shrinking and tenuously connected enclaves. Some estimates put the barrier’s eventual cost at $1 billion, adding to Palestinians’ scepticism of Israeli claims that it is not intended to stay up forever.
Last December, the United Nations General Assembly voted to ask the UN’s International Court of Justice (ICJ) to rule on the legality of the barrier. On Friday July 9th, the court published its ruling, declaring the barrier illegal under international law, demanding the dismantlement of those parts that already encroach on the West Bank and calling for compensation for the many Palestinians whose rights have been “gravely” infringed by it.
While recognising Israel’s right to defend itself, the ICJ said it was not convinced that the route chosen for the barrier was justified. It called on the UN to consider taking further action. Palestinian leaders are calling for sanctions against Israel, though America and other veto-wielding members of the UN Security Council will probably reject this. Israel has already said it will not accept the ICJ’s findings—which are non-binding—arguing that the stalled Middle East peace process will not be helped by taking it piecemeal to the courts.
When first proposed, the barrier met with much resistance from Israelis themselves. Left-wingers said such high-handed action would ruin the chances of a negotiated peace. Many right-wingers, including Ariel Sharon, the prime minister, initially opposed the barrier, since it was originally intended to run close to Israel’s border before it captured the West Bank, along with Gaza and other territories, in a 1967 war—and would thus exclude many Jewish settlements built since then. However, the plans have since been modified to take in several large settlements. More importantly, suicide attacks by Palestinian militants in the past year have convinced many Israelis that the barrier is needed.
The government notes that such attacks have dropped sharply as its construction has progressed—though this is also due to Israel’s equally controversial policy of assassinating senior militants. A recent poll found that 78% of Israelis now support building the barrier. On Sunday, a bomb at a bus stop in Tel Aviv—the first terrorist bombing in Israel since March—killed an Israeli soldier. Afterwards, Mr Sharon suggested that the ICJ ruling had encouraged the bombers. He insisted that construction of the barrier would continue.
The barrier has undoubtedly added to the hardship that Palestinians suffer from Israeli security measures. Many have been cut off from workplaces, land, schools, hospitals, holy sites and relatives. Thousands, whose villages have been encompassed by the barrier, are stuck in a no-man’s-land, unable to travel west into Israel proper nor east into the West Bank. In some Palestinian towns, young people have been forced by lack of work to leave—encouraging suspicions that this was exactly Israel’s intention. Israelis retort that Palestinians, who have been conducting a violent intifada (uprising) against the occupation since 2000, have only themselves to blame.
cont.....
OTB
Israel’s illegal but unstoppable barrier
Jul 12th 2004
From The Economist Global Agenda
The International Court of Justice has ruled that the barrier Israel is building in the West Bank is illegal and has demanded reparations for Palestinians affected by it. There will now be pressure for sanctions to make Israel stop building the barrier but its construction is likely to continue
TO MOST Israelis, the 630km (390-mile) barrier their government is constructing in the West Bank, consisting of concrete walls, barbed-wire fences, trenches and patrol roads, is a legitimate defence against Palestinian suicide-bombers. The Israeli government insists that the barrier—of which 185km is already completed—is only a temporary security measure and has no political significance. To Palestinians, who see the barrier carving out chunks of their farmland and cutting off their villages, it looks like a land grab, designed to stop them ever having a viable Palestinian state by slicing their territory into shrinking and tenuously connected enclaves. Some estimates put the barrier’s eventual cost at $1 billion, adding to Palestinians’ scepticism of Israeli claims that it is not intended to stay up forever.
Last December, the United Nations General Assembly voted to ask the UN’s International Court of Justice (ICJ) to rule on the legality of the barrier. On Friday July 9th, the court published its ruling, declaring the barrier illegal under international law, demanding the dismantlement of those parts that already encroach on the West Bank and calling for compensation for the many Palestinians whose rights have been “gravely” infringed by it.
While recognising Israel’s right to defend itself, the ICJ said it was not convinced that the route chosen for the barrier was justified. It called on the UN to consider taking further action. Palestinian leaders are calling for sanctions against Israel, though America and other veto-wielding members of the UN Security Council will probably reject this. Israel has already said it will not accept the ICJ’s findings—which are non-binding—arguing that the stalled Middle East peace process will not be helped by taking it piecemeal to the courts.
When first proposed, the barrier met with much resistance from Israelis themselves. Left-wingers said such high-handed action would ruin the chances of a negotiated peace. Many right-wingers, including Ariel Sharon, the prime minister, initially opposed the barrier, since it was originally intended to run close to Israel’s border before it captured the West Bank, along with Gaza and other territories, in a 1967 war—and would thus exclude many Jewish settlements built since then. However, the plans have since been modified to take in several large settlements. More importantly, suicide attacks by Palestinian militants in the past year have convinced many Israelis that the barrier is needed.
The government notes that such attacks have dropped sharply as its construction has progressed—though this is also due to Israel’s equally controversial policy of assassinating senior militants. A recent poll found that 78% of Israelis now support building the barrier. On Sunday, a bomb at a bus stop in Tel Aviv—the first terrorist bombing in Israel since March—killed an Israeli soldier. Afterwards, Mr Sharon suggested that the ICJ ruling had encouraged the bombers. He insisted that construction of the barrier would continue.
The barrier has undoubtedly added to the hardship that Palestinians suffer from Israeli security measures. Many have been cut off from workplaces, land, schools, hospitals, holy sites and relatives. Thousands, whose villages have been encompassed by the barrier, are stuck in a no-man’s-land, unable to travel west into Israel proper nor east into the West Bank. In some Palestinian towns, young people have been forced by lack of work to leave—encouraging suspicions that this was exactly Israel’s intention. Israelis retort that Palestinians, who have been conducting a violent intifada (uprising) against the occupation since 2000, have only themselves to blame.
cont.....
