Five years ago, the International Court of Justice Said the Illegal Israeli Apartheid, Land-Grab Wall Must Fall Down, It Hasn't!

UN: The Israeli apartheid wall has serious impacts on life of Palestinians

[ 09/07/2009 - 12:28 PM ]

RAMALLAH, (PIC)--

The UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs (OCHA) said Wednesday that the illegal Israeli Apartheid, Land-Grab Wall, which is built by Israel in the West Bank has serious humanitarian impacts on the daily life of Palestinians.

In a statement, the UN office demanded Israel to implement the decision issued five years ago by the international court of justice in The Hague which called on Israel to tear down the separation wall.

It also said that Israel still ignores the decision and insists on expanding the wall, adding that 60 percent out of a total 709 kilometers of the wall was built so far.

The international court of justice in The Hague had condemned in July 2004 the construction of this wall as illegal and called on Israel to remove it.

Report: Five years ago ICJ said wall must fall

Date: 09 / 07 / 2009  Time:  09:40
Bethlehem - Badil -

Today marks the fifth anniversary of the International Court of Justice's (ICJ) advisory opinion on the legality of the 724 km the illegal Israeli Apartheid, Land-Grab Wall, which Israel continues to construct across the West Bank.

The ICJ's ruling was clear and unambiguous: the wall's construction is illegal; Israel must terminate construction immediately, dismantle the sections already built and return confiscated properties; and Palestinians affected by the construction must be compensated.

The court further stated that all states are under an obligation not to recognize the illegal situation resulting from its construction or to render aid or assistance maintaining the situation created by such construction.

The ICJ ruling should have been a victory for the forces demanding respect for and implementation of international law. Instead it has become a symbol of Israel's disrespect for international law and of the international community's failure to hold Israel accountable to its crimes; despite the devastating consequences such impunity has upon the lives of Palestinians who continue to be displaced from their homeland.

The wall has definitively created six ghettos throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territories containing 98 enclaves with 312,810 Palestinians surrounded by barbed wire, walls and control towers. At least 14,364 persons have been displaced in the 145 localities through which the wall passes with some 90,000 Palestinians directly threatened by displacement as the Wall's construction is completed.

Without recourse to an adequate non-partisan mechanism to implement the ICJ ruling, Palestinians are left with few options to defend their rights and to resist displacement. While weekly grassroots protests continue in villages like Bil'in, Ni'lin, and Ma'asara whose lands continue to be robbed, they have so far lacked the sufficient leverage to resist Israel's sheer military might and the accompanying impunity provided Israel by the international community.

In this context, there is no substitute to advancing the broad, international civil society struggle to boycott, divest and sanction Israel as called for by Palestinian civil society since 2005. Such a campaign has the moral authority and power to counter balance the forces supporting Israeli apartheid. Those who pay taxes to governments that support Israel; those who handle Israeli products whether as vendors or consumers; and those who engage in international academic, cultural and sports fora that normalize Israel's regime of occupation, colonialism and apartheid - all have within their hands the power to stop the machine that makes Israeli apartheid politically viable and materially profitable.

The above was a statement on the fifth anniversary of the ICJ Decision from Badil resource center in Bethlehem, Palestine

International, Palestinian organizations call for wall demolition

Date: 09 / 07 / 2009  Time:  12:55
Bethlehem - Ma’an -

On 9 July 2004 the International Criminal Court ruled that Israel must cease construction of its separation wall, dismantle those sections already completed and make reparations for the damages caused by the construction.

Five years after that decision Israeli construction continues and has seen 58.3% of the wall complete and a total of 413 kilometers, according to data from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Palestine; another 10.2% of the wall is under construction.

Palestinian and international institutions marked Thursday’s fifth anniversary of the ICJ decision and released a slew of condemnations for the continued construction of the wall, and telling statistics around the scope of Israel’s separation program.

The Palestinian Negotiations Affairs Department released the following statistics:

Once completed, Israel’s Wall will run to 709-711 km in length, more than twice the length of the 1967 border

Approximately 82% of the Wall’s construction will occur on occupied Palestinian land illegally confiscated by Israel

Wall stretches as far as 22 km into the West Bank

“Israel’s Wall,” said the Palestinian government, “is an integral part of Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise, serving to fortify and consolidate the presence of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and the illegal annexation of East Jerusalem, while annexing more Palestinian land for future settlement expansion.”