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The Apartheid Wall judged by the UN Court

The Apartheid Wall judged by the UN Court – will Israel now be held accountable for its crimes?


When the story broke around the world about the “Palestinian victory at the Israeli High Court,” the familiar game became clear – Israeli Occupation Forces needed quick cover for their Apartheid crimes given the news that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague would release its Advisory Opinion on the Apartheid Wall on July 9th, 2004.

In February, just as the ICJ began hearings, Israeli Occupation Forces played a similar game by publicizing a decision to "dismantle" parts of the Wall in the northern West Bank village of Baqa Sharqiyya. However, what was not made widely known was that Wall in Baqa was simply shifted, ultimately destroying more of the village's lands and leaving the Palestinian population there in the same desperate situation as before. Today, the ploy is exactly the same, come out with a "big legal decision" to "shift" the Wall, undermine the opinion of the ICJ and annex as much Palestinian land as possible while tightening the grip over Palestinian life – all while keeping good public face. However, Palestinians and their allies know better; they remain steadfast in their demand that the only justice to be had is in a complete stop and dismantlement of the Apartheid Wall and a comprehensive end to the Occupation.

It is essential that a critical eye is turned to both the recent Israeli High Court Decision and the upcoming ICJ Advisory Opinion. Certainly, Palestinians were never expecting that the Occupation Courts would free them from the Occupation and stop the Apartheid Wall, however, what are the possible outcomes from the release of an advisory opinion by the ICJ in The Hague? What is the responsibility of the international community in ensuring justice, whatever the outcome at the ICJ?

It has taken over 50 years and a devastating Apartheid Wall for any of the numerous Israeli crimes to be brought before an International Court. Despite Israel's history of oppression – which includes, but is hardly limited to, mass expulsion, the destruction of over 400 Palestinian villages, imprisonment, humiliation and murder of the Palestinian population, theft of water and other natural resources, and the relentless annexation and settlement of Palestinian lands even during the Oslo Process– the international community has remained idle. Can there be an expectation that Israel will now be held accountable for its many crimes?

Since the earliest stages of the Apartheid Wall's construction in June 2002, Palestinians have been mobilizing in strong resistance against it. Further, numerous international organizations have come out to repeatedly highlight how the Wall violates International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law. The Wall clearly negates Palestinian Rights to Freedom of Movement, Work, Education, Health, Food and Water, Religion as well as the Right of the Child to their Identity. In addition, the Wall would essentially result in the unilateral demarcation of a new "border" in the West Bank, annexing massive amounts of occupied Palestinian land.

On October 21, 2003, the United Nations’ General Assembly passed Resolution ES 10/13, demanding "that Israel stop and reverse the construction of the wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around East Jerusalem, which is in departure of the Armistice Line of 1949 and is in contradiction to relevant provisions of international law" within one month's time. After Israel’s blatant and predictable refusal to comply with this request, the UN General Assembly referred the issue to its International judicial system - essentially de-politicizing the question of Israeli war crimes and racist expansionist policies by making them purely a matter of "law".

Now, over four months have passed since deliberations at the ICJ, during which time there has been near total political immobility on the side of the international community, while suffering devastation for the Apartheid Wall has been ongoing and widespread, now reaching such critical areas as the central West Bank districts of Salfit, Ramallah and Jerusalem. To no surprise, Israel has repeatedly announced that it will not recognize the ICJ's advisory opinion, and will move forward with the wall's construction "at full speed." What weight then, will the opinion have? Certainly, Palestinians will continue their resistance to the Apartheid crimes of Occupation and the Wall, but will this decision prompt the international community to support them in their call to tear down the Apartheid Wall?

The ICJ opinion will, regardless of content, bring questions over the validity and power of international law to the forefront of global politics. It will highlight the relationship between international law, the universal concept of Justice and the dynamics of today's political power structure, calling into serious question the ability of international law to protect the oppressed from the oppressor. Is international jurisprudence able to act away from political pressure? Is legal recourse an option in the struggle for liberation and justice?

In the case that the ICJ asserts its competence by reaffirming what has already been proven through hundreds of pages of documentation by diverse organizations and institutions – that the Wall is illegal – the role of international bodies such as the UN should be put to task in order to ensure the opinion of the Court is implemented with full political and practical consequences. Similarly, if the Court proves its incompetence by failing to declare the illegality of the Wall, the UN and such institutions will most certainly need to step up in order to salvage any credibility they may have left after the Assault and Occupation of Iraq by US and allied forces, including Israel, went forward despite loud protest, resulting in flagrant and rampant violations of justice. In either case, the effectiveness of the UN, the ICJ and such institutions must also be on trial by the international community. It must be determined to what extent these bodies are a part of the system which perpetuates injustice, allowing crimes such as expulsion and Apartheid to go unchallenged, or to what extent they are willing to face the world's superpowers and demand accountability and justice.

Though the advisory opinion is not binding, it sets the stage for the International Community, governmental administrations worldwide and all supporters of the Palestinian struggle to demand action against Israeli colonization, the Apartheid Wall and the crimes of Occupation, thus giving the decision political meaning. After the Court's 1971 ruling against South Africa's occupation of Namibia, the international community acted clearly against the Apartheid regime to bring about democracy: popular boycott, international isolation, economic sanctions and diplomatic pressure have supported the South African Anti-Apartheid Movement in its struggle against a racist and colonialist regime, bringing South Africa Apartheid to an end. The international community must act now in order to secure similar transformation in Palestine.

Without fail, it is now up to worldwide action to make sure that Israeli Apartheid politics – never more visible and strongly represented than in the building of the Apartheid Wall – will be “de facto” isolated, discredited and forced into reversal by widespread sanctions and boycott. This is essential in order to ensure democracy in the region as well as justice and liberation for the Palestinian people.

Jamal Juma’ (Coordinator of the Palestinian grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign)