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| Israel Reroutes Barrier Ahead of World Court Session | |
| 2004-02-22 | |
Israel on Sunday planned to tear down a section of its controversial West Bank barrier that cuts through a Palestinian village, a day before the World Court opens hearings on the legality of the project. Workers will start dismantling a five mile section of the barrier, a fraction of the project, in the West Bank on Sunday, a day before hearings begin in the International Court of Justice in The Hague. The route of the partially constructed barrier, which snakes deep into the West Bank and plans to extend for 452 miles, has come under international criticism, including from the United States -- Israel’s main ally. Israel says completed sections of the barrier -- a network of razor wire and concrete -- are already stopping Palestinian suicide bombers. Palestinians call it a land grab. Hundreds of Palestinians marched in West Bank demonstrations on Saturday to protest against the barrier and are planning a "Day of Rage" at the start of the World Court’s hearings.
Ummm, okay. But Israeli Justice Minister Yosef Lapid said he had urged parties to take the step and acknowledged that Israel could reap public opinion benefits from changing the barrier’s route, which cuts off Palestinians from their fields, schools and clinics. "I’ve said this before (the hearings) in The Hague, so that the world will know that we do not want to harm (the Palestinians)," he told Israel’s Channel 10. "If this is media spin, than it is very positive media spin." Yaron said original plans had the barrier crossing through an inhabited area of a Palestinian village and would have forced the demolition of 40 Palestinian homes. After almost two years of local lawsuits, the decision was made to scrap the section. The World Court’s ruling is non-binding, but Israel fears the United Nations General Assembly -- which asked for the advisory opinion and where pro-Palestinian sentiment is strong -- could use the ruling to lobby for sanctions against it. Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei said on Saturday that the Israeli step did not go far enough, telling reporters: "We will not agree to even one millimeter of the barrier." | |
| Posted by:Seafarious |
| #6 Already in the Koran we are told of the cowardice nature of the Jews. The Koran is all lies from beginning to end. You can see for yourself that the parts about the Jews being cowards are obvious lies. |
| Posted by: Mike Sylwester 2004-2-22 12:16:29 PM |
| #5 more on the manufactured "day of rage": Anti-fence rallies close Palestinian schools By RONIT SELA Palestinian schools in most of the West Bank will not hold classes between 12:00-1:00 p.m. Monday to enable their students to participate in demonstrations against the security fence, Israeli media institute MEMRI reported. The three-day hearing in The Hague regarding the disputed West Bank fence is due to begin Monday. Various Palestinian and Israeli organizations, from both sides of the fence and of the political spectrum, are planning large demonstrations along the fence route and in The Hague. MEMRI said that the Palestinian Ministry of Education sent out instructions to all schools, asking them to devote the first class Sunday and Monday morning to the fence and its negative consequences on the Palestinian people. "The fence is proof that all of Israel's security measures have failed," the ministry's briefing said. "Already in the Koran we are told of the cowardice nature of the Jews." |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-2-22 11:02:53 AM |
| #4 planning a "Day of Rage" Don't need plans, everyday is a Paleo day of rage. |
| Posted by: JerseyMike 2004-2-22 8:35:51 AM |
| #3 I watched an amazing section on the BBC last week. It was a standard piece of the wall is terrible cutting villages from their fields blah blah, then interviewed a palestinian women who said that the wall represented the most terrible catastrophe in her life separating her house form her village blah, blah and ends by showing you the gate built by the Israelis especially for this woman. She has a key and apparently can use the gate any time she wants. As I said, a truly amazing piece where the fact of Israeli concern for people was wrapped in blatantly anti-Israeli propaganda. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2004-2-22 2:32:30 AM |
| #2 I predict by the end of the year, many more walls will be up. |
| Posted by: Bernardz 2004-2-22 1:54:50 AM |
| #1 It's been a bad week for walls. Robert Frost was right: "Something there is that doesn't love a wall." |
| Posted by: GK 2004-2-22 1:50:55 AM |