Opinion Editorials, July 2004, To see today's opinion articles, click here: www.aljazeerah.info
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International Court Ruling: A Golden Opportunity for a Policy Change in the US and Israel
By Hassan El-Najjar
Al-Jazeerah, July 14, 2004
Today, the Palestinian Authority takes the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling on the Israeli Wall to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). The ICJ ruled that the Israeli Wall is illegal because it is built inside the Palestinian territory and therefore should be brought down.
The Palestinian Authority has chosen a peaceful means to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict by going to the UN Court. The UNGA is expected with an overwhelming majority to approve the ICJ ruling and urge member states to implement it.
This means that the Israeli government has a golden opportunity to abide by the international law by dismantling the illegal Wall. This could be the breakthrough that would quicken the withdrawal from Gaza Strip and the resumption of the peace process.
For the US government, the ICJ ruling is a golden opportunity to tell the Israeli government that the US cannot support the continuation of building the illegal Wall. This will put the US in a blunt violation of international law in a time it needs help from the UN in Iraq. The US has a lot of financial, military, political, and diplomatic leverage on the Israeli government, which (if used) will influence the Israeli government to abide by international law.
The ICJ ruling on the Wall is a golden opportunity for peace in the Middle East and the world. It seems that the Palestinians, supported by the whole world, are determined to use this legal and peaceful means to gain their national rights. If the US and the Israeli governments seize the opportunity, hope for peace will be revived and suffering will be shortened.
However, if the Israeli government continues building the Wall inside the Palestinian territory, it will face a world-wide condemnation and action to implement the ICJ ruling. The Wall is now characterized as a Land-Grab and a racist Wall, not a security barrier, as the Israeli government argued in the past.
Like in the South African-Namibian precedence, sanctions may be imposed on Israel. This ICJ ruling will be used by nations of the world as a justification for the imposition of sanctions on Israel until not only the dismantlement of the Wall but also the Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian territories and the establishment of the Palestinian state.
Let's hope that this is going to be a golden opportunity seized for peace and justice for Palestinians, Israelis, and the whole world.
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| Earth, a planet hungry for peace |
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| The Israeli Land-Grab Apartheid Wall built inside the Palestinian territories, here separating Abu Dis from occupied East Jerusalem. (IPC, 7/4/04). | ||
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| The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers in the West Bank, like a Python. (Alquds,10/25/03). |