UN assembly demands Israel demolish West Bank barrier

July 21, 2004|Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS -- The UN General Assembly overwhelmingly adopted a resolution yesterday demanding that Israel comply with a World Court decision and tear down the barrier it is building to seal off the West Bank. Israel vowed to continue construction.

The 150-to-6 vote was opposed by Israel and the United States, which argued that the resolution was unbalanced. Ten countries abstained. The four other countries that opposed the resolution were Australia, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, and Palau.

The assembly's vote, like the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, is not legally binding. But both have symbolic value as international statements of condemnation of the barrier. Only the Security Council can order the barrier to be torn down or impose sanctions, and the United States -- Israel's closest ally -- would almost certainly use its veto power to block any such resolution.

The 191-member world body voted after lengthy negotiations between the Arab League and the European Union. The talks resulted in a revised text accepted by both groups. The new text added language reaffirming Israel's right to self-defense and called on the Palestinians to arrest would-be attackers and on Israel to stop attacking Palestinian civilians.

The first draft of the resolution would have had the General Assembly accept the court's opinion, but at EU insistence it was changed to simply acknowledge its decision.

Palestinian UN observer Nasser Al-Kidwa said the court's opinion and the resolution could be ''the most important" UN action since the General Assembly's 1947 partition of Palestine to allow the creation of the Jewish state of Israel. The court, as well as the resolution, demand that the barrier be dismantled and reparations be paid to Palestinians harmed by its construction.

Israel has refused to recognize the July 9 World Court ruling, saying it has no authority to deal with the issue, and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has ordered construction of the barrier to continue.

The Israeli Supreme Court has ordered the army to change the route of a 20-mile stretch of the barrier near Jerusalem, saying it was causing hardship on the local Palestinian population.

Israeli UN Ambassador Dan Gillerman called the resolution ''one-sided and totally counterproductive" and said construction of the barrier will continue to keep out Palestinian attackers.