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UNITED NATIONS, Oct 22: The UN General Assembly called overwhelmingly for Israel to tear down its security barrier in the West Bank, describing it as a breach of international law, but the Jewish state gave a blunt refusal.
A resolution against the barrier, which Israel says is designed to prevent infiltration of Palestinian suicide bombers into its territory but the Palestinians charge is a land grab, was passed late Tuesday by a vote of 144-4, with 12 countries abstaining.
The resolution, which was opposed only by Israel and its ally the United States, plus two tiny Pacific territories, is not binding, and an Israeli minister swiftly said it would be ignored.
The resolution said UN member-states were particularly concerned that the route chosen by Israel for the barrier “could prejudge future negotiations and make the two-state solution physically impossible to implement and would cause further humanitarian hardship for the Palestinians.”
It demanded 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.”
In Al Quds, Israeli Industry Minister Ehud Olmert made it clear that his country would push ahead with the building of the controversial barrier.
“The security fence will continue to be built,” said Olmert, who is number two in Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s government, on public radio.
“We do not take into account the automatic UN majority which is systematically hostile towards us,” he said.
“The whole world is against us and the United States and I am proud to be on the side of the Americans,” he added.
The resolution also called on both Israel and the Palestinians to fulfil their obligations under the roadmap, a three-stage peace plan sponsored by the EU, UN, US and Russia that provides for creating a Palestinian state by 2005.
It condemned suicide bombings and their recent intensification and urged the Palestinian Authority to “take visible efforts on the ground to arrest, disrupt, and restrain individuals and groups conducting and planning violent attacks” against Israel.
WELCOMED: In Gaza City, the Palestinian Authority welcomed Wednesday a UN resolution calling on Israel to stop building its controversial separation barrier along the West Bank, saying it was “a great victory for the peace process.”
“We favourably welcome the General Assembly resolution. This is a very important resolution; politically, juridically and morally,” chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat told AFP.
ISRAEL’S NO: In Al Quds, Israel said it will push on with the building of a controversial West Bank separation barrier despite a UN resolution demanding it halt construction, Industry Minister Ehud Olmert said on Wednesday.
“The security fence will continue to be built,” Olmert, who is number two in Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s government, told public radio.
Israel, for its part, is called upon not to take any action “undermining trust, including deportations and attacks on civilians and extra-judicial killings.”
The resolution’s nearly unanimous approval was also seen as a defeat for the United States after its Oct 14 veto of a similar UN Security Council resolution.
The barrier, which will effectively cut off large swathes of fertile land and scores of villages from the rest of the West Bank, has been strongly criticized internationally. Even the United States has called it a “problem.”—AFP
