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Israel Accused Of
'Illegal Land Grab'
Pro-Palestinian Protesters Include Anti-Zionist Rabbis

By Stephen Castle
The Independent - UK
2-24-4



THE HAGUE -- Israel was accused yesterday of erecting its controversial security barrier as part of an illegal bid to grab Palestinian land, as a landmark legal case began amid protests in The Hague.
 
The blackened shell of a bus, destroyed by a suicide bomber last month, was flown in by supporters of the Israeli government, while pro-Palestinian protesters included Gretta Duisenberg, the wife of the former president of the European Central Bank, and a group of anti-Zionist rabbis.
 
The opening of the case marks the first attempt to get a legal condemnation of the contentious West Bank barrier which Israel says is needed to prevent suicide bombers killing its civilians. Palestinian representatives said the 450-mile structure was part of an orchestrated Israeli "colonisation".
 
The most high-profile case to be heard by the court in recent years brought logistical problems for the Dutch authorities as campaigners converged on the Dutch capital under the watchful gaze of riot police. Both pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli groups braved freezing temperatures to demonstrate at different times of the day to avoid any possibility of a clash.
 
At the start of the hearing, the Palestinian permanent representative to the UN, Nasser al-Kidwa, said the barrier, which is part fence and part wall, was constructed for political - rather than security -reasons.
 
"It is about entrenching the occupation and the de facto annexation of large areas of Palestinian land," he said. "If Israel wanted a wall for security it would have constructed it on its territory and raised it to 80m not eight metres".
 
Israel has refused to accept the jurisdiction of the court but made a written submission: "civilians are literally being slaughtered - on buses as they go about their daily lives, in their homes, in restaurants and elsewhere - by those who operate from under the protective umbrella of 'Palestine'".
 
Israel says terrorist attacks have killed 916 people and injured more than 5,000 in the past 40 months. The Palestinians say that over the same period 2,770 people have been killed by Israeli forces. The US, the UK and the EU say a legal judgment will not help the search for peace, though the UK and EU have said the barrier is illegal.
 
The UN General Assembly has asked for a ruling and, while the court can only make a non-binding recommendation, its findings will have an important symbolic effect.
 
* Israeli troops fired teargas at stone-throwing Palestinians in protests along Israel's West Bank barrier yesterday. It was the biggest demonstrations against Israel's tightening grip on the West Bank for months.
 
© 2004 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd
 
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/story.jsp?story=494538

 

 

 



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