Barrier dispute moves to UN court
AMSTERDAM -- A battle over Israel's security barrier on Palestinian land shaped up in the World Court yesterday, with one camp demanding that judges denounce the barrier as illegal and the other urging them to say nothing at all.
Nearly 50 countries and international blocs submitted depositions to the International Court of Justice in The Hague by Friday's deadline, diplomats said.
That sets the stage for the first confrontation on the Arab-Israel conflict to reach the United Nations' highest judicial body.
The World Court normally arbitrates boundary or maritime disputes between nations that agree to its jurisdiction, but the UN General Assembly asked the court in December to give a nonbinding, advisory opinion on the legal consequences of the 440-mile barrier Israel is building in the West Bank.
In an initial legal skirmish, a World Court official confirmed Israeli news reports that Jerusalem sought the removal of an Egyptian judge from the 15-member bench. The official said "the court has taken a decision on that," but he declined to elaborate.
The judge, Nabil Elaraby, is a former legal adviser to the Egyptian Foreign Ministry and has been involved in the Mideast conflict for three decades. He was part of the Egyptian delegation that negotiated the 1978 Camp David peace accords.
Most of the World Court judges, who are elected to nine-year terms, come from countries that have submitted representations on the security fence. Court rules allow them to remain on the bench even when they are nationals of a country directly involved in a dispute before the court.
Israel's barrier -- a complex of trenches, fences, concrete walls, razor wire, and electronic sensors -- snakes through the West Bank. It often runs close to the internationally recognized border before Israel captured the West Bank in 1967, but in places it dips deep into Palestinian territory.
Israel said the barrier is intended to block suicide bombers, who have killed more than 400 Israelis in the last three years.
But the Palestinians call it "the apartheid wall," saying that its construction results in a land grab that isolates tens of thousands of Palestinians from their farmland, jobs, schools, or hospitals.
The court must first decide whether it should render an opinion at all. Israel and its supporters argue that the question is political and that the court has no jurisdiction. Israel, the United States, and the European Union said the court's intervention is inappropriate and could undermine chances of reviving the US-backed "road map" peace plan. Diplomatic sources said that Russia, Japan, Canada, and Australia also urged the court not to intervene. The EU filed a deposition, as did several of its 15 members.
The court also agreed to accept depositions from the Arab League and the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Conference, which want the court to declare that the barrier violates international law.
Many of those supporting Israel's argument have said they oppose building the barrier through Palestinian territory.
"You very well know our position on the wall; it does not contribute to peace," Javier Solana, the EU's foreign policy representative, said yesterday.
The court said the written submissions would remain confidential until oral arguments begin Feb. 23. Countries wishing to state their case before the judges must sign up by Feb. 13.
