In exercise of its authority under the United Nations (UN) General Assembly resolution A/ES-10/L.
16 of 3 December 2003, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) opens its hearing today, 23 February 2003, with a view to issue an advisory opinion on the legality of the aparthied wall in the West Bank.
Israel started the construction of the wall on 16 June 2002, which will be approximately 700 kilometers long in its final stage.
The route of the wall cuts deeply into the West Bank on the Palestinian side of the Green Line (1949 Armistice Line) The wall is a grave violation of the provisions of the international law and the humanitarian law, which prohibits the occupying power to take measures to change the status of the conditions of the occupied territory and create new facts on the ground.
It will isolate over seventy Palestinian communities, cause fatal impacts on agricultural activities, which in turn will worsen the weak economic conditions and increase the level of poverty.
The wall also already prevents Palestinians to access to hospitals and schools, further adding to the restrictions already imposed on freedom of movement and access of Palestinians.
Affirming that the apartheid wall under construction by Israel constitutes a flagrant violation of the international law, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights draws attention to the following: 1.
Over 90% of the constructed or planned route of the wall is inside the occupied West Bank.
This constitutes a breach to Israel’s obligations as an occupying power under the international humanitarian law and generates crucial negative impacts on civilians and their resources.
2.
The wall’s route adds further restrictions on the movement of hundreds of thousands of civilians in violation of Article 12 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Such restrictions constitute a collective punishment, thus violating Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Times of War.
3.
The Construction of the wall is yet another example of Israel’s policy of confiscation and destruction of private property, in breach Article 53 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
4.
The construction of the wall is yet another example of Israeli discrimination against Palestinian civilians.
Israeli settlers, who live in illegal Jewish settlements built on Palestinian occupied land, have free access and movement, contrary to Palestinian civilians.
This exercise violates Article 13 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
5.
The wall infringes a combination of basic human rights, such as the right to labor, health and education, of Palestinian civilians in violation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultrual Rights.
In addition, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights believes that this wall undermines the right of Palestinians to self-determination and creating their independent state, both established by the international legitemacy.
The Center, as such, calls upon the International Community to effectively intervene to put an end to the construction of the wall and to demolish the parts of the wall on the Palestinian territory in the West Bank.
The Center also appeals for the International Community to stop dealing with the wall from a political perspective and perpetuating a double standard in terms of of international law.
Justice must not be fragmented.