Jordan backs Pals case; Israel stages alternative wall hearing

By: Nabil Raza

THE HAGUE, Netherlands: Israel was to stage its own alternative to the International Court of Justice hearings on its barrier it is building in West Bank, as neighboring Jordan argued Tuesday that the project is a threat and must be declared illegal.

Israeli foreign ministry spokesman David Saranga said that two US congressman who are monitoring proceedings in The Hague will form a panel which is overseeing the “alternative hearing”.

While the Israelis stage their own alternative hearings in The Hague's old town hall, the official hearings continue at the ICJ's Peace Palace headquarters.

Jordan voiced concern to the world court that Israel's separation barrier could destabilize the kingdom. Israel's prime minister, meanwhile, called the hearings a “campaign of hypocrisy”.

“With the exception of the Palestinians themselves, we feel we Jordanians are the ones who could be most affected by Israel's decision to place the wall where it has and where it intends to do so in the future,” Prince Zeid Al Hussein, head of the Jordanian delegation, told the International Court of Justice on the second day of the hearings.

Jordan fears the barrier will make life so hard for Palestinians that they will flee the West Bank into the neighboring kingdom, straining its resources and upsetting a delicate demographic balance.

The hearings have raised tensions between Israel and Jordan, which signed a peace agreement in 1994.

The court also heard presentations by Belize, Cuba and Indonesia, which accused Israel of violating international law governing occupations.

As the arguments continued Tuesday, it became apparent that participants hoped to put Israel's 37-year occupation — not just the barrier — on trial.

Meanwhile, Israeli security forces wounded 10 Palestinians protesting Tuesday in the village of Beit Sira against an expansion of the barrier.

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