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A PALESTINIAN VIEW
Mr. Sharon, tear this wall down!
by Ghassan Khatib
The Palestinian presentation at The International Court
of Justice in The Hague is the first move in a tense game of international
chess. With the battle being fought in the court itself and on the playing
field of public opinion, it is imperative that we keep a focus on a few
things.
When the United Nations General Assembly asked the court
to provide an advisory opinion on the legality of the route of Israel’s
wall, it clearly marked the beginning of the vindication of the Palestinian
position which is in step with international legitimacy and law. The Israeli
refusal to accept the jurisdiction of the court reinforces what the
Palestinians have been saying all along. In order to understand that the
hearings in The Hague, we must put the whole discussion in perspective.
>From the Palestinian point of view, the separation wall is very clearly
seen as part and parcel of the Israeli policy of settlement expansion. The
path in which the wall is being built is not dictated by Israel’s security
needs, but the needs of the settlements in the occupied Palestinian
territories. The other purpose is to squeeze the maximum number of
Palestinians into crowded cantons or enclaves in order to create a “green
field” for the expansion of the settlements, hence, the expansion of Israel
in the occupied territories.
Second of all, the separation wall project is a blatant attempt by the
Israeli government to prejudice the outcome of any meaningful negotiations
between Israel and the Palestinians in the future. It is designed to preempt
the vital need to create a viable, contiguous, and democratic Palestinian
state in the occupied territories based on international legality (the June
1967 borders).
Thirdly, it is also aimed at destroying the already-limping Palestinian
economy. By suffocating any movement of people and goods, the Israelis are
finishing off any rays of economic hope. Looking at the 2003 fourth quarter
statistics (the last available from the Palestinian Bureau of Statistics),
it becomes clear that the economic situation in the Jenin, Tulkarem, and
Qalqilia areas has deteriorated dramatically since the completion of the
wall in those regions. The wall has eaten up large swaths of land designated
for agriculture and prevented people from farming or tending their lands. It
has also had a drastic negative effect on employment in an area which
already has suffered a great deal over the past three years due to
Israeli-imposed restrictions. Just when we thought the occupation
authority’s draconian measures couldn’t get worse, the wall came up. Poverty
in these areas has worsened to a great extent, providing ample fodder for
extremist elements in Palestinian soc! iety.
The paean that the separation wall provides security for Israel and Israelis
is completely false. Real security can only be achieved through the peaceful
relations of neighbors. By insisting on erecting a wall which severely adds
to the suffering of the Palestinian civilian population, Israel is actively
creating desperation and despair among the Palestinians. Israel’s security
would have been better served if it had invested those hundreds of millions
of dollars into building bridges of cooperation instead of walls of
separation.
We look at the proceedings in The Hague anxiously, hoping that an advisory
opinion based on international law will be the first step towards bringing
down this monstrosity. If the international community’s member states adhere
to the findings of the court, we can only hope that they will take the side
of legality and implement the court’s advice. It will be a sunny day when
the US president or the leader of a European country takes the example of
the Berlin Wall and paraphrases former US President Ronald Reagan shouting,
“Mr. Sharon, tear this wall down!”
Ghassan Khatib is minister of labor in the Palestinian
Authority cabinet. He has served for many years as a political analyst and
media contact.
AN ISRAELI VIEW
Of fences, boycotts and international courts
by Yossi Alpher
[haGalil onLine 2004 (Jan./Feb.):
Zum Thema Sicherheitszaun]
Published 23/2/2004 © bitterlemons.org
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