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Israeli soldiers attacking Palestinian demonstrators
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THE
HAGUE, February 23 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) -
Palestinians called on the International Court of Justice (ICJ)
Monday, February 23, to declare Israel's West Bank barrier illegal,
arguing it would wreck the chances of a peaceful settlement in the
Middle East and would not halt suicide attacks.
As
the much-anticipated hearings were held in The Hague to look into the
legality of the 700km-long wall, thousands of Palestinians took to the
streets Monday to give voice to their sufferings from the wall.
The
three-hour presentation was led by their permanent representative to
the United Nations, Nasser Al-Qidwa, who said the barrier was wrecking
chances of a peaceful solution to the Middle East conflict and would
not halt attacks, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“The
wall being built on the West Bank is not about security, it's about
entrenching the occupation and the de facto annexation of large areas
of the Palestinian land,” Qidwa told the court.
“This
wall if completed will leave the Palestinian people with only half of
the West Bank within isolated, non-contiguous walled enclave.”
The
U.N. General Assembly called
on the ICJ in December 2003 to rule on the legality of
the barrier, although any verdict is advisory and non-binding.
Qidwa
said construction was destroying the internationally-backed roadmap
peace plan which aims for the creation of an independent Palestinian
by next year.
“It
will render the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
practically impossible,” he said.
“Saving
the roadmap and the prospects for peace requires a cessation of the
construction of this wall, its removal and non-recognition by states
of any of its consequences,” he argued.
No
End For Operations
Qidwa
warned that the wall was likely to increase the prospect of
Palestinian attacks on Israelis.
“It
is more than obvious that when you deprive an entire people of their
rights, expropriate their land and property and wall them into
enclaves and ghettos you are not solving the security problem but
creating an untenable situation that will combust,” he said.
After
Qidwa's testimony, a series of lawyers argued that the barrier was in
breach of international law by being built in part across the 1949
armistice line dividing Israel from the Palestinian territories.
They
also produced maps and photos highlighting the impact of the barrier
on the civilian population as well as testimony from residents.
Palestinian
President Yasser Arafat said in a televised speech Monday that the
barrier was designed to prevent the creation of a Palestinian, calling
on Palestinians to “let their voices be heard” against the
barrier.
“The
apartheid wall... aims to deprive our people of their land and prevent
the creation of a Palestinian state with [occupied] Jerusalem as its
capital, in conformity with international resolutions,” Arafat said.
Israel
has submitted a 135-page written deposition to the ICJ in The Hague
but refuses to make a personal representation.
“Israel
considers that the court does not have the jurisdiction to entertain
the request and that even if it were to have jurisdiction, it should
not respond to the requested opinion,” the document states.
The
written submission also criticized the wording of the request for an
opinion by the general assembly for failing to make any mention of
Palestinian operations.
“Any
opinion of the court on the substance of the request will without
doubt upset the balance of the roadmap and make any meaningful
resumption of negotiations more difficult to achieve,” it said.
The
court was due to hear presentations in the afternoon session against
the barrier by a series of countries sympathetic to the Palestinians'
case, including South Africa and Saudi Arabia.
The
hearings at the world court are expected to last until Wednesday,
February 25. No date has been set for a verdict.
Qorei
Leads Rally
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Qorei leading the rally
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In
the occupied Palestinian territories, Israeli troops clashed with
Palestinians Monday as thousands, led by their Prime Minister Ahmad
Qorei, marched against the apartheid wall.
The
troops fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse young
Palestinians at Abu Dis, in the eastern suburbs of occupied Jerusalem.
One Palestinian was injured, a medical source said.
Qorei
had told several thousand protestors gathered by the barrier, which
forms an eight-meter (25-feet) high concrete wall at Abu Dis, “We
are sending a message of protest to the ICJ against this wall”.
“To
all those who want peace in Israel, we say that the wall has not been
built for security purposes but to steal our land and shut in 250,000
Palestinians. We will never accept it,” added the premier, often
interrupted by anti-barrier slogans shouted by the marchers.
“We
say to the United States, to the European Union and to the entire
world that peace is impossible with the apartheid wall,” he said.
Muslim
and Christian religious dignitaries participated in the demonstration
in addition to two members of the European parliament.
“We
are here to express our support, and against the construction of the
wall which goes against our idea of peace,” one of them, Roseline
Vachetta, told AFP.
Traffic
came to a standstill for five minutes at noon (1000 GMT) as a one hour
break was granted to civil servants and pupils to take part in the
rally.
“No
to the wall,” read a huge banner floating on the facade of a
downtown building.
Similar
protests were held in Nablus, Jenin and Tulkarem in the northern West
Bank and in Bethlehem and Al-Khalil (Hebron) in the southern West
Bank.
On
the other extreme, more than 1,000 Israelis started Monday a silent
march Monday near the ICJ, carrying photos of the people killed by the
latest Palestinian attacks.
The
photographs were handed out by the Israeli embassy in the Netherlands,
along with Israeli flags and banners calling for an end to
“terrorism”.
Zaka,
an orthodox Jewish organization, which sends volunteers to comfort the
injured and recover the remains of the dead after attacks, shipped the
body of a bus incinerated Sunday, February 22, by a Palestinian
operation as evidence for the need for a “security fence”.
A
23-year-old Palestinian youth blew
himself up aboard a bus, killing eight Israelis and
injuring up to 60 others.
Supporters
of the Palestinians meanwhile were scheduled to hold their protest in
front of the court later in the day, and Dutch police, who were out in
force, were trying to keep the two groups well apart.
Click
here to watch Israeli soldiers attacking an anti-wall Palestinian
rally
