UN Demands Israel Dismantle Separation Wall

The UN General Assembly demanded Israel Tuesday night, July 20, to abide by the International Court of Justice's ruling and tear down the separation wall, but Tel Aviv defiantly pledged to pursue the construction.

The voting result was 150 to 6 with 10 abstentions on the resolution aimed at dismantling the 370-mile (600-km) controversial barrier, reported Reuters news agency.

All 25 European Union countries voted in support of the Palestinian-drafted measure after its Arab sponsors accepted a series of EU modifications over days of intense negotiations.

Voting "no" were the United States, Israel, Australia and the Pacific island states of Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau.

Abstaining were Canada, Cameroon, El Salvador, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Uganda, Uruguay and Vanuatu.

Israel claims the wall is necessary for maintaining its security. But the Palestinians dismiss the allegation as deceptive.

The Palestinians – backed by international community and the UN – maintain that the wall is nothing but an Israeli land-grab and a bid to pre-empt the borders of their future state.

The General Assembly resolution came after the ICJ ruled on July 9 that the barrier, which is still under construction, was illegal because it cut deep into the occupied West Bank to shield settlements built by Israel on Palestinian territory it seized in the 1967 Middle East War.

The UN resolution demanded Israel to comply with the ruling of The Hague-based ICJ, the top UN legal body, that it was legally obliged to dismantle the barrier and pay reparations for damages caused during construction.

The assembly resolution is not legally binding but carries symbolic weight and could lead to a future UN Security Council resolution.

Historic Development

Palestinian UN Ambassador Nasser Al-Kidwa praised the vote as "a historic development.

"It is time now, we believe for implementation, for compliance, and at a later stage, for additional measures.

"We thank you for this magnificent achievement in support of international law," Kidwa told the UN session.

The Palestinian diplomat told Reuters later member states should consider some bans against Israelis, such as Jewish settlers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip not eligible for visas abroad and companies involved in building the wall could be put under sanctions.

In response to EU proposals, put forward by the Netherlands, the resolution also condemned all acts of "terrorism" and urged both Israel and the Palestinians to meet their obligations under the roadmap blueprint set out by the quartet of Middle East mediators -- the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia.

The EU also successfully demanded that the resolution specify that states have the right to defend themselves against attacks on their people.

A section of the court ruling had suggested that under the UN Charter, a state had the right to defend itself against an attack from another state but not, for example, from a bomber.

The measure also softened a demand that Switzerland, as keeper of the Fourth Geneva Convention, convene a meeting of parties to the treaty to ensure it was being observed.

The final version said only that Switzerland could consider convening such a meeting.

The 1949 pact deals with the protection of civilians in time of war.

Defiant Israel

Despite the UN resolution, defiant Israel vowed to press on with construction of the barrier.

"The building of the fence will go on," said Raanan Gissin, a senior adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

"Israel will not stop building it or abdicate its inalienable right to self-defense."

"Thank God that the fate of Israel and of the Jewish people is not decided in this hall," Israeli Ambassador Dan Gillerman said after the vote.

"When all is said and done, it is simply outrageous to respond with such vigor to a measure that saves lives and respond with such casual indifference and apathy to a Palestinian campaign that takes lives."

James Cunningham, the US deputy ambassador, claimed the resolution was unbalanced and could undermine the goal of a Middle East in which Israeli and Palestinian states lived side by side in peace.

Last October, the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly passed a resolution, demanding Tel Aviv to "stop and reserve" the construction of its controversial wall.

Shortly after the resolution, Sharon approved a new 100-million-dollar section of the controversial barrier.

More than 200,000 Palestinians are already suffering the humanitarian consequences of the wall, according to the United Nations.

The wall has resulted in the confiscation of 11,4000 dunums (2,850 acres - 1,140 hectares) of privately-owned Palestinian land and in the destruction of 102,320 trees, according to a report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

It estimated that with the competition of the wall, 30 percent of the West Bank population, or some 680,000 people, will be "directly harmed."

Source: IslamOnline.net