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| Monday, 23-Feb-2004 00:00 |
| The Hague - ICJ Hearings on Israel's Security FenceIsraeli barrier challenged at World Court By MICHAEL MATZA / Philadelphia Inquirer THE HAGUE, Netherlands - It was a day for pomp and spectacle at the World Court Monday. Pomp, inside the oak-paneled International Court of Justice, where lawyers in wigs and waistcoats challenged the construction of Israel's controversial separation barrier. Spectacle, outside the palatial court compound, where pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian demonstrators took opposing cases to the street with vivid displays of the heavy price they've paid for their bitter conflict. "When you wall people into ghettoes ... you are creating a situation that will combust," Nasser al-Kidwa, the Palestine Liberation Organization delegate to the United Nations told the 15-judge tribunal. "This wall is not about security. It's about entrenching the occupation" of West Bank land. Although Israel submitted in writing a detailed brief defending the barrier as a security necessity, it opposes the court's jurisdiction on a matter it maintains is essentially political not legal. Outside the court, around 1,500 supporters of Israel, aided by an Israeli government press team, gathered to lend their voice in pushing hard to sway world public opinion. "We're here to tell the stories we see everyday," said Yaron Hyrowski, 30, an Israeli medic from Haifa, who has rescued victims of suicide bombings. "We're not here to speak in favor or against the wall. That's for the politicians. We just want people to see the whole picture." As part of that effort, Israel put the soot-stained shell of a bombed-out bus on display amid the demonstrators. Israel, which has occupied the Palestinian-populated West Bank to varying degrees since the 1967 Six Day War, says the network of fences, concrete walls and trenches it began building two years ago is designed to keep out Palestinian suicide bombers whose attacks have killed hundreds of Israelis in the past three years. Palestinians say the projected 450-mile barrier, which in places cuts deeply into the West Bank, illegally confiscates occupied territory on which they hope to build a future state. With just one quarter of the barrier completed, they say, it has already harmed tens of thousands of Palestinians by hindering access to schools, farm fields and medical services. Twelve countries and two confederations of Arab and Islamic states are participating in the three days of oral argument that commenced Monday. The demonstrations took place on a plaza outside the Baroque gates of the Peace Palace, where the International Court of Justice holds its sessions. Orly Shmuel, 24, an Israeli lawyer, said she objected to the World Court hearing because it lacks context. "I saw the legal question presented to the court and the word `terror' is not mentioned. The court can't be asked half a question," she said. She lives in Yokne'am, a town in northern Israel, where soldiers recently captured a would-be bomber on his way to attack the high school her sister Lauren attends. Because the northern section of the barrier is complete, Shmuel said, the attacker, who came from the West Bank city of Jenin, was forced to take a longer route that gave troops enough time to trap him. "We have this on a daily basis," she said. "We don't need lawyers saying it. We need citizens." Arnold Roth's daughter Malka, 15, was killed in the suicide bombing of a Jerusalem pizza shop three years ago. "To turn the fence into a mock trial of Israel is deeply offensive to me," he said, holding his daughter's portrait. "I don't say the fence will protect us perfectly. But it's one of many things we must do to look after our families." To limit the possibility of clashes, police in the Hague scheduled the opposing demonstrations hours apart. At the Palestinian demonstration, several hundred protesters carried Palestinian flags and entered the plaza chanting, "This wall must fall. Occupation has to go." http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/news/8023062.htm |
