Palestinians beaten for resisting barrier
Staff, Al Jazeera.net
February 24th, 2004 — Israeli occupation forces have wounded at least 50 Palestinians protesting against an expansion of the controversial separation barrier as the World Court held a second day of hearings on the issue. [MORE]
Israelis injure 20 Palestinians in barrier protest
Reuters, Reuters.com
February 24th, 2004 — Israeli forces fired rubber-coated metal bullets and tear gas at stone-throwing Palestinians protesting on Tuesday against a West Bank barrier as the World Court held a second day of hearings on the issue. [MORE]
Country-wide demonstrations against separation barrier
Maya Abou Nasr and Mohammed Zaatari, Daily Star Online
February 24th, 2004 — Demonstrations were held across the country on Monday to protest against Israelâs so- called separation wall, a move that coincided with the International Court of Justiceâs hearing in The Hague on the wallâs legality. [MORE]
SA asks UN court to condemn Israeli barrier
Reuters Report, Independant Online
February 24th, 2004 — South Africa asked the World Court on Monday to rule against the barrier Israel is building in the West Bank, just as the same tribunal ruled in 1971 that apartheid South Africa’s occupation of Namibia was illegal. [MORE]
Marches for and against the wall
Staff, Al Jazeera.net
February 24th, 2004 — As the International Court of Justice in The Hague began discussing the legality of the barrier on Monday, thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip marched in protest against the wall. [MORE]
Judgment Day for West Bank Wall
Ross Dunn, Scotsman.com
February 23rd, 2004 — PALESTINIANS such as Jamal Dir-awi hope that when a panel of international judges this week begin to scrutinise what Israel has done to his people it will heap condemnation on a barrier which has become a potent symbol of the desperate relations between the two communities. [MORE]
Israeli wall hearing stokes PR battle
Shaheen Chughtai, Al Jazeera.net
February 23rd, 2004 — As the International Court of Justice (ICJ) begins its controversial study of Israel’s separation barrier, reactions to the latest Arab-Israeli violence have merely fuelled the battle for perceptions. [MORE]
Staff, Miami Herald
February 23rd, 2004 — Thousands of Palestinians staged protests of Israel’s West Bank barrier Saturday and Israel prepared to remove a small stretch of its fencing, two days before the start of world court hearings on the barrier’s legality. [MORE]
West Bank Wall Goes Before Court
Fitzroy Nation, IPS
February 21st, 2004 — THE HAGUE, Feb 20 (IPS) – In eagerly awaited hearings set to begin here Monday, the International Court of Justice will be asked to decide on the legality of the barrier being built by Israel through the occupied West Bank. [MORE]
Red Cross condemns ‘illegal’ Israeli wall
Staff, Al Jazeera.net
February 19th, 2004 — The International Red Cross has said the security barrier that Israel is building in the West Bank is contrary to humanitarian law, and should not be built. [MORE]
SA cabinet minister blasts West Bank barrier
Staff, Independent Online
February 18th, 2004 — South African Water Affairs and Forestry Minister Ronnie Kasrils has demanded that the Israeli government reverse “all unilateral actions (against the Palestinians) including the separation wall”, his department said on Tuesday. [MORE]
Red Cross slams Israel barrier
Staff, BBC News
February 18th, 2004 — The International Committee of the Red Cross has condemned Israel’s building of a barrier in the West Bank as “contrary” to international law. [MORE]
West Bank barrier inhumane: UN
Staff, IRIB News
February 17th, 2004 — More than 200,000 Palestinians are already suffering the humanitarian consequences of the separation barrier that Israel is building in the West Bank, according to the United Nations. [MORE]
EU: “Israel must stop building barrier”
Arjan El Fassed, Electronic Intifada
February 14th, 2004 — Today, the EU presented its position regarding the hearing at the ICJ. In Strasbourg, Irish Foreign Minister Dick Roche, on behalf of the Council of Ministers, said that Israel must stop building this barrier and he deplored the âregrettably uncompromisingâ attitude of the Israeli government. [MORE]
Straw condemns Israeli barrier as unlawful
Reuters, Reuters AlertNet
February 13th, 2004 — Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has condemned as unlawful the barrier being erected by Israel in the West Bank. [MORE]
Israel Won’t Participate in Hague Hearing on Security Barrier
Greg Myre, New York Times
February 13th, 2004 — Israel said today that it would not participate in a hearing this month at the International Court of Justice on the legality of the contentious separation barrier that is under construction in the West Bank. [MORE]
British Parliamentarians call for imposing sanctions on Israel
Mainstream Media, www.arabicnews.com
February 7th, 2004 — British parliamentarians announced yesterday that malnutrition in Gaza and the West Bank reached a worse situation similar to that in the countries of southern African desert because the Palestinian economy collapsed under the imposed restrictions by Israel. They called for imposing economic sanctions on Israel. [MORE]
News, Jordan Times
February 5th, 2004 — ON FEBRUARY 23, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague should start deliberating on the legality or otherwise of Israel’s separation barrier…In the places where the barrier is being built on occupied territory as defined by UN resolutions, the ICJ has no choice but to find the barrier in contravention of international law. Add to that the hardships caused and the land seized, and a fairly clear case can be made that the barrier is a blatant broach of the Geneva Conventions, which set the standard for the code of conduct of an occupying power vis-ý-vis those occupied. [MORE]
World court rejects Israeli demand to dismiss Egyptian judge
News, AFP via Yahoo! News
February 3rd, 2004 — The International Court of Justice (ICJ) rejected a request by Israel to stop an Egyptian judge from examining with the Court the legality of a controversial barrier being built in the West Bank. “The International Court of Justice decided, by 13 votes to one, that certain matters brought to the attention of the Court by letters from the government of Israel, were not as such as to preclude Judge Nabil Elaraby from participating in the present case,” the ICJ said in a statement. [MORE]
EU against court case over West Bank barrier
News, EU Business
February 3rd, 2004 — The European Union believes it is “inappropriate” for the UN to refer a protest about the controversial Israeli-built barrier in the West Bank to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), diplomats said Tuesday. “The EU expressed the belief that the request for an advisory opinion is inappropriate,” said the source with the EU’s current Irish presidency, adding that it “won’t help efforts .. to relaunch a political dialogue.” [MORE]
Israel Asks State Dept. to Put Off Report
BARRY SCHWEID, AP via Yahoo! News
February 2nd, 2004 — Israel has asked the State Department to postpone its annual human rights report for fear it could be used by the International Court of Justice against the security barrier the Israelis are building. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Israeli request was under consideration. [MORE]
World Court Weighs Israel Security Wall
ARTHUR MAX, AP via Yahoo! News
February 2nd, 2004 — A world court battle concerning Israel’s security barrier on Palestinian land shaped up Monday, with one camp demanding judges denounce it as illegal and the other urging them to say nothing at all. That sets the stage for the first confrontation on the Arab-Israel conflict to reach the United Nations (news – web sites)’ highest judicial body. The case will be one of the most scrutinized in the court’s 57-year history. [MORE]
33 countries object to ICJ ruling on West Bank barrier
Staff, China View
February 2nd, 2004 — Thirty-three countries believe the International Court of Justice (ICJ) does not have the jurisdiction to rule on the legality of the controversial separation barrier Israel is building in the West Bank, a foreign ministry official said Sunday. According to Ron Prosor, chief political adviser to Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, a total of 33 nations formally expressed their objections to the ICJ’s authority to rule on the issue at a hearing scheduled for February 23. [MORE]
Palestinians submit barrier case
News, BBC News
February 1st, 2004 — The Palestinian Authority has made a submission to the International Court of Justice, which is to rule on Israel’s barrier in the West Bank. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the court had “full jurisdiction” and that the barrier was illegal.
The court, which is based in The Hague in the Netherlands, is due to begin hearings on 23 February. A number of countries – including Israel, the United States, Britain – have opposed the hearings. [MORE]