Pals tell ICJ Israeli wall wrecking chances of ME peace

By: Nabil Raza

THE HAGUE, Netherlands: The International Court of Justice opened Monday its hearings into the legality of Israel's West Bank barrier, a landmark hearing that brings Israel's policies before an international tribunal for the first time.

The Palestinians urged the court to declare Israel's West Bank barrier illegal, arguing that it would wreck the chances of a peaceful settlement in the Middle East.

Chief of the Palestinian delegation Nasser Al-Kidwa was the first to address the tribunal. He argued against the barrier and in favor of the court's authority to render an opinion on its legality.

“This wall is not about security. It is about entrenching the occupation and the de facto annexation of large areas of the Palestinian land,” Al-Kidwa told the tribunal adding that the vast network of walls and fences would deny Palestinians a viable independent state.

The 15-judge ICJ planned three days of hearings into the barrier, with all of the participants expected to harshly criticize the fence. Israel, the United States and the European countries that oppose the court's intervention, refused to attend.

Outside the court's Peace Palace, pro-Israeli demonstrators chanted prayers and waved Israeli flags.

The skeleton of a Jerusalem bus, in which a Palestinian suicide bomber killed 11 people last month, was displayed some 100 yards from the building before being removed ahead of a demonstration by Palestinians.

Police barricades kept the pro-Israeli group away from a group of pro-Palestinian protesters that included several ultra-Orthodox rabbis belonging to an anti-Zionist sect.

“The wall is state terrorism,” said Hajo Meyer, a Dutch member of European Jews for Justice and Peace.

The court, the United Nations' highest judicial body, was asked by the General Assembly to issue an advisory opinion on the barrier. The court's decision is non-binding, but its rulings are influential.

The Palestinians have high expectations for the case. They hope a ruling against Israel will lead to the removal of the barrier.

Israel has submitted written arguments challenging the court's jurisdiction. It says the dispute should be resolved through negotiations, and that taking the matter to court will undermine the US-backed “road map” peace plan.

Earlier, international pressure group Human Rights Watch slammed the barrier as a “serious violation” of the Jewish state's obligations under the Geneva Conventions and a blatant attempt to consolidate illegal Jewish settlement in the territories.

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