Tear down Israel's illegal barrier, says World Court
By Donald Macintyre in Jerusalem

The Independent/UK
10 July 2004

The United Nations was urged by the International Court of Justice
yesterday to enforce the Court's ruling that Israel should tear down
its 450-mile separation barrier and compensate the Palestinians for
the hardship it has caused.

Although its unequivocal ruling that the routing of the barrier
through occupied Palestinian territory was in breach of international
law is non-binding, the ICJ called for the UN Security Council to
consider "further action" to halt construction.

In a ruling read out in the Hague by its president, Judge Shi Jiuyong
of China, the court found that "Israel is under an obligation to
terminate its breaches of international law; it is under an obligation
to cease forthwith the works of construction of the wall being built
in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around East
Jerusalem, to dismantle forthwith the structure therein situated."

Israel made it clear last night it would not be bound by the ruling,
which rejected her argument that the barrier was essential for
security. The court declared that the fence "cannot be justified by
military exigencies or by the requirements of national security or
public order."

The Palestinian leadership -which welcomed the decision - made it
clear it would be seeking to persuade the UN General Assembly to back
further action which it hopes could even lead to sanctions against
Israel.

The ruling also challenged the assertion, strongly repeated by Israel
yesterday, that the route of the barrier, snaking well into occupied
territory was temporary. The ruling declared "the construction of the
wall and its associate regime creates a 'fait accompli' on the ground
that could well become permanent, in which case, and notwithstanding
the formal characterisation by Israel, it would be tantamount to de
facto annexation."

An American judge, Thomas Buergenthal, who was on the 15-justice panel
was alone in rejecting the main rulings about the illegality of the
barrier but he was supported by the Dutch judge, Pieter Kooijmans, in
his rejection of the call for all countries to act against the
project. The other 13 judges ruled in favour of the ruling.

Leading a chorus of declarations by Palestinians welcoming the
decision, the Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat said "This
is an excellent decision. We thank the court in The Hague. This is a
victory for the Palestinian people and for all the free peoples of the
world."

But the Israeli Foreign Ministry said the judgement failed to "address
the essence of the problem and the very reason for building the fence
- Palestinian terror. If there were no terror, there would be no
fence".

One of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's aides, Raanan Gissin,
went further, saying: "I believe that, after the rancour dies, this
resolution will find its place in the garbage can of history."

The European Commission reaffirmed its call on Israel to abandon the
barrier as it is routed at present but the White House spokesman Scott
Mclellan said: "We do not believe that [The ICJ] is the appropriate
forum to resolve what is a political issue," saying the peace
"road-map" talks were the best place to address the problem.