UNITED
NATIONS, July 21 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – The UN
General Assembly demanded Israel Tuesday night, July 20, to abide by
the International Court of Justice's ruling and tear down the
separation wall, but Tel Aviv defiantly pledged to pursue the
construction.
The
voting result was 150 to 6 with 10 abstentions on the resolution aimed
at dismantling the 370-mile (600-km) controversial barrier, reported
Reuters news agency.
All
25 European Union countries voted in support of the
Palestinian-drafted measure after its Arab sponsors accepted a series
of EU modifications over days of intense negotiations.
Voting
"no" were the United States, Israel, Australia and the
Pacific island states of Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau.
Abstaining
were Canada, Cameroon, El Salvador, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, the
Solomon Islands, Tonga, Uganda, Uruguay and Vanuatu.
Israel
claims the wall is necessary for maintaining its security. But the
Palestinians dismiss the allegation as deceptive.
The
Palestinians – backed by international community and the UN –
maintain that the wall is nothing but an Israeli
on July 9 that the
barrier, which is still under construction, was illegal because it cut
deep into the occupied West Bank to shield settlements built by Israel
on Palestinian territory it seized in the 1967 Middle East War.
The
UN resolution demanded Israel to comply with the ruling of The
Hague-based ICJ, the top UN legal body, that it was legally obliged to
dismantle the barrier and pay reparations for damages caused during
construction.
The
assembly resolution is not legally binding but carries symbolic weight
and could lead to a future UN Security Council resolution.
‘Historic
Development’
Palestinian
UN Ambassador Nasser Al-Kidwa praised the vote as "a historic
development.
"It
is time now, we believe for implementation, for compliance, and at a
later stage, for additional measures.
"We
thank you for this magnificent achievement in support of international
law," Kidwa told the UN session.
The
Palestinian diplomat told Reuters later member states should consider
some bans against Israelis, such as Jewish settlers in the West Bank
and Gaza Strip not eligible for visas abroad and companies involved in
building the wall could be put under sanctions.
In
response to EU proposals, put forward by the Netherlands, the
resolution also condemned all acts of "terrorism" and urged
both Israel and the Palestinians to meet their obligations under the
roadmap blueprint set out by the quartet of Middle East mediators --
the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia.
The
EU also successfully demanded that the resolution specify that states
have the right to defend themselves against attacks on their people.
A
section of the court ruling had suggested that under the UN Charter, a
state had the right to defend itself against an attack from another
state but not, for example, from a bomber.
The
measure also softened a demand that Switzerland, as keeper of the
Fourth Geneva Convention, convene a meeting of parties to the treaty
to ensure it was being observed.
The
final version said only that Switzerland could consider convening such
a meeting.
The
1949 pact deals with the protection of civilians in time of war.
Defiant
Israel
 |
|
The
UN says more than 200,000 Palestinians are already suffering the
humanitarian consequences of the wall (AFP)
|
Despite
the UN resolution, defiant Israel vowed to press on with construction
of the barrier.
"The
building of the fence will go on," said Raanan Gissin, a senior
adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
"Israel
will not stop building it or abdicate its inalienable right to
self-defense."
"Thank
God that the fate of Israel and of the Jewish people is not decided in
this hall," Israeli Ambassador Dan Gillerman said after the vote.
"When
all is said and done, it is simply outrageous to respond with such
vigor to a measure that saves lives and respond with such casual
indifference and apathy to a Palestinian campaign that takes
lives."
James
Cunningham, the US deputy ambassador, claimed the resolution was
unbalanced and could undermine the goal of a Middle East in which
Israeli and Palestinian states lived side by side in peace.
Last
October, the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly passed a resolution,
demanding Tel Aviv to
"stop
and reserve"
the construction of its controversial wall.
Shortly
after the resolution, Sharon
approved
a new 100-million-dollar section of the controversial barrier.
More
than 200,000 Palestinians are already suffering the humanitarian
consequences of the wall, according to the United Nations.
The
wall has resulted in the confiscation of 11,4000 dunums (2,850 acres -
1,140 hectares) of privately-owned Palestinian land and in the
destruction of 102,320 trees, according to a report by the UN Office
for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
It
estimated that with the competition of the wall, 30 percent of the
West Bank population, or some 680,000 people, will be
"directly
harmed."
