Post by Salem6 on Feb 24, 2004 11:06:36 GMT
Arafat: No Peace and Security with Israel’s Apartheid Wall
ICJ Opens Hearings, HRW Slams Wall as ‘Serious Violation’ of Geneva Conventions
Palestine Media Center – PMC
About an hour before the Monday opening of the hearings at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague, President Yaser Arafat said that peace and security will not prevail between Palestinians and Israelis nor regionally with the construction of Israel’s Apartheid Wall, which he described as the climax of the Palestinian catastrophe in 1948, when the Jewish state was created.
In a live address Monday from his besieged, battered headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah, President Arafat called upon all peace-loving forces to move on the ground, in world capitals and in The Hague to highlight the racist and tragic truth of the Apartheid Wall that Israel is building on occupied Palestinian territory.
The Wall will confiscate 58 percent of the area of the West Bank when completed, Arafat said.
Israel’s Apartheid Wall has turned Palestinian cities, villages and refugee camps into jails, he added.
A report published by the Palestinian State Information Service (SIS) on Sunday revealed that the Israeli occupying forces have forcibly seized nearly 165 thousand dunums (124,323 dunums of private property mostly in the Governorate of Qalqilia, and 40,460 dunums of government property, mostly in Jenin Governorate) for the construction of the Wall.
This will eventually extend 620 kilometers in length, and will thrust deeper from 300 meters to 23 kilometers inside the West Bank. The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) have also bulldozed 22,298 dunums for the same purpose.
The report also showed that the Wall would isolate 126 Palestinian population centres, while 47 other localities with a population of 183,986 Palestinians would be trapped between the main and secondary walls.
Meanwhile in the Peace Palace in The Hague, 15 judges of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) opened hearings on Monday on the legality of Israel’s Apartheid Wall upon the request of the UN General Assembly.
On December 8, the General Assembly turned to the world court, the United Nations’ highest judicial authority for a non-binding advisory opinion, which differs from arbitration cases, where the ICJ’s decisions are final and any nation failing to comply could face Security Council sanctions.
The first three hours will be dedicated to Palestinian arguments, which initially will be presented by the head of the Palestinian delegation and the PNA’s envoy to the United Nations, Nasser Al-Kidwa.
Al-Kidwa said the Palestinians do not deny Israel’s right to defend itself but that it has breached international law by building parts of the Wall on territory across the Green Line, which marks the 1949 armistice boundary between Palestinian and Israeli territories.
“Our main opposition to the wall stems from the fact that it is being built in the occupied Palestinian territories including east Jerusalem,” Al-Kidwa said.
For three days, legal experts from 13 UN member states, plus the PNA, the Arab League and the Organization of the Islamic Conference, will state their arguments before the judges — far fewer than the 44 UN countries which submitted written briefs last month.
The PNA expressed disappointment at the poor show of support from Arab countries, noting that only 10 of the 22 Arab League nations had submitted legal arguments.
“I feel so sorry that many of the Arab countries have not even sent a written statement to the court against the wall,” said PNA Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath on Friday.
Israel’s 120-page brief plus supporting documents say it is not bound by conventions concerning occupied territories, arguing that the West Bank’s legal status has always been disputed, one diplomat told AP on condition of anonymity. No other country supported that contention, he said.
Arab League chief Amre Mousa left Cairo on Sunday for The Hague, the Netherlands, to attend hearings of the ICJ.
Speaking to reporters before his departure, Mousa said that the22-member pan-Arab forum was a party that is defending the Palestinians' rights.
A group of Arab lawyers were also expected to attend the hearings.
HRW Slams Israel for Apartheid Wall
On Monday the US-based Human Rights Watch joined increasing world condemnation of the Wall as a “serious violation” of the Geneva Conventions and international law and a blatant attempt to consolidate illegal Jewish settlement in the occupied Palestinian territory.
The Wall “entails serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law,” the international pressure group said in a briefing paper released just hours before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) began debating the legality of the Wall.
“Israel’s separation barrier seriously impedes Palestinian access to essentials of civilian life, such as work, education and medical care,” said Joe Stork, acting head of the group’s Middle East and North Africa division.
By confining more than 100,000 civilians inside enclaves, which are regulated by a highly-complex regime of permits, the Wall will “institutionalize a system in which all movement for large numbers of people is sharply curtailed,” thereby endangering access to basic services, the group said.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Amnesty International and the World Council of Churches voiced similar objections to the Wall and released similar statements last week.
The ICRC highlighted in particular the humanitarian consequences of the Wall on the Palestinian population.
Gush Shalom will demonstrate against Israel’s Apartheid Wall on Monday, together with other Israeli peace movements, at the Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s residence in Jerusalem.
Though the General Assembly asked for an “urgent” decision, it could take months. On average, the judges need about a year to thrash out their views, AP reported. The General Assembly and the Security Council elect the judges for nine-year terms.
Of the 22 advisory opinions the court has given since 1947, only one — the 1996 ruling on the legality of nuclear weapons — has come close to this case for sheer drama and global importance.
www.palestine-pmc.com/details.asp?cat=1&id=1222
ICJ Opens Hearings, HRW Slams Wall as ‘Serious Violation’ of Geneva Conventions
Palestine Media Center – PMC
About an hour before the Monday opening of the hearings at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague, President Yaser Arafat said that peace and security will not prevail between Palestinians and Israelis nor regionally with the construction of Israel’s Apartheid Wall, which he described as the climax of the Palestinian catastrophe in 1948, when the Jewish state was created.
In a live address Monday from his besieged, battered headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah, President Arafat called upon all peace-loving forces to move on the ground, in world capitals and in The Hague to highlight the racist and tragic truth of the Apartheid Wall that Israel is building on occupied Palestinian territory.
The Wall will confiscate 58 percent of the area of the West Bank when completed, Arafat said.
Israel’s Apartheid Wall has turned Palestinian cities, villages and refugee camps into jails, he added.
A report published by the Palestinian State Information Service (SIS) on Sunday revealed that the Israeli occupying forces have forcibly seized nearly 165 thousand dunums (124,323 dunums of private property mostly in the Governorate of Qalqilia, and 40,460 dunums of government property, mostly in Jenin Governorate) for the construction of the Wall.
This will eventually extend 620 kilometers in length, and will thrust deeper from 300 meters to 23 kilometers inside the West Bank. The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) have also bulldozed 22,298 dunums for the same purpose.
The report also showed that the Wall would isolate 126 Palestinian population centres, while 47 other localities with a population of 183,986 Palestinians would be trapped between the main and secondary walls.
Meanwhile in the Peace Palace in The Hague, 15 judges of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) opened hearings on Monday on the legality of Israel’s Apartheid Wall upon the request of the UN General Assembly.
On December 8, the General Assembly turned to the world court, the United Nations’ highest judicial authority for a non-binding advisory opinion, which differs from arbitration cases, where the ICJ’s decisions are final and any nation failing to comply could face Security Council sanctions.
The first three hours will be dedicated to Palestinian arguments, which initially will be presented by the head of the Palestinian delegation and the PNA’s envoy to the United Nations, Nasser Al-Kidwa.
Al-Kidwa said the Palestinians do not deny Israel’s right to defend itself but that it has breached international law by building parts of the Wall on territory across the Green Line, which marks the 1949 armistice boundary between Palestinian and Israeli territories.
“Our main opposition to the wall stems from the fact that it is being built in the occupied Palestinian territories including east Jerusalem,” Al-Kidwa said.
For three days, legal experts from 13 UN member states, plus the PNA, the Arab League and the Organization of the Islamic Conference, will state their arguments before the judges — far fewer than the 44 UN countries which submitted written briefs last month.
The PNA expressed disappointment at the poor show of support from Arab countries, noting that only 10 of the 22 Arab League nations had submitted legal arguments.
“I feel so sorry that many of the Arab countries have not even sent a written statement to the court against the wall,” said PNA Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath on Friday.
Israel’s 120-page brief plus supporting documents say it is not bound by conventions concerning occupied territories, arguing that the West Bank’s legal status has always been disputed, one diplomat told AP on condition of anonymity. No other country supported that contention, he said.
Arab League chief Amre Mousa left Cairo on Sunday for The Hague, the Netherlands, to attend hearings of the ICJ.
Speaking to reporters before his departure, Mousa said that the22-member pan-Arab forum was a party that is defending the Palestinians' rights.
A group of Arab lawyers were also expected to attend the hearings.
HRW Slams Israel for Apartheid Wall
On Monday the US-based Human Rights Watch joined increasing world condemnation of the Wall as a “serious violation” of the Geneva Conventions and international law and a blatant attempt to consolidate illegal Jewish settlement in the occupied Palestinian territory.
The Wall “entails serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law,” the international pressure group said in a briefing paper released just hours before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) began debating the legality of the Wall.
“Israel’s separation barrier seriously impedes Palestinian access to essentials of civilian life, such as work, education and medical care,” said Joe Stork, acting head of the group’s Middle East and North Africa division.
By confining more than 100,000 civilians inside enclaves, which are regulated by a highly-complex regime of permits, the Wall will “institutionalize a system in which all movement for large numbers of people is sharply curtailed,” thereby endangering access to basic services, the group said.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Amnesty International and the World Council of Churches voiced similar objections to the Wall and released similar statements last week.
The ICRC highlighted in particular the humanitarian consequences of the Wall on the Palestinian population.
Gush Shalom will demonstrate against Israel’s Apartheid Wall on Monday, together with other Israeli peace movements, at the Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s residence in Jerusalem.
Though the General Assembly asked for an “urgent” decision, it could take months. On average, the judges need about a year to thrash out their views, AP reported. The General Assembly and the Security Council elect the judges for nine-year terms.
Of the 22 advisory opinions the court has given since 1947, only one — the 1996 ruling on the legality of nuclear weapons — has come close to this case for sheer drama and global importance.
www.palestine-pmc.com/details.asp?cat=1&id=1222