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| Middle East |
| Israelis Mull Change in Fence’s Path |
| 2004-01-18 |
| JERUSALEM - Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and key Cabinet ministers on Sunday considered proposals to move sections of a contentious West Bank security barrier closer to Israel, apparently hoping to deflect growing international criticism. You dont think they intended to do this all along do you? The Cabinet debate was part of preparations for a hearing next month before the International The Palestinians say the barrier, which disrupts the lives of thousands of people, Also Sunday, Sharon signed orders for the dismantling of three unauthorized settlement outposts in the West Bank. As part of the stalled U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan, Israel is to dismantle dozens of outposts set up by settlers in recent years. Both sides have failed to comply with the first requirements of the peace plan Israel has until the end of the month to present its arguments to the world court ahead of the Feb. 23 hearing on the legality of the security barrier. Israel’s acting Attorney General Edna Arbel told Sharon and other officials last week that the current route would be difficult to defend before the world court, a senior government official said on condition of anonymity. The Cabinet ministers, headed by Sharon, were not expected to make any decisions Sunday, the official said, adding that Israel’s assessment is that the court will rule against the barrier no matter what its route. True. True. The ministers are more concerned about an appeal to Israel’s Supreme Court made by an Israeli civil rights group regarding the barrier’s legality, the official said. A three-judge panel will hear the appeal next month. The Israeli leaders will also discuss alternate routes for the barrier in problematic areas, the official said. Arbel was particularly concerned about an area around the Jewish settlement of Ariel and another portion around Jerusalem, which cuts tens of thousands of Palestinians off from the city that has been the mainstay of their existence for decades, officials said. Cause, meet Effect. However, Sharon and other top officials have made it clear that the barrier will not be built along the internationally recognized 1967 border because the Palestinians will think "it is an achievement, that they pushed Israel to the Green Line with terrorism," a senior military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said. In the 1967 Mideast war, Israel captured the West Bank and Gaza Strip from Jordan and Egypt respectively and has since occupied and settled them. Palestinians want the land for a future state and demand Israel withdraw to the line that existed before the war erupted. Justice Minister Yosef Lapid has called for the barrier’s route to be changed, saying otherwise it would spell disaster in the Hague. Interior Minister Avraham Poraz, a member of Lapid’s centrist Shinui Party, agreed, saying it "causes us a great deal of damage internationally, costs us a great deal of money ... and hurts our claim that this is a security fence." "We have to bring this fence back to sanity. This is a fence that has to move more or less along the Green Line, it can cut inside (the West Bank) a few kilometers here and there," Poraz told Israel Radio. Meanwhile in the Gaza Strip, just a few hundred Palestinians - of the 4,000 who have permits to work in Israel - made it to work Sunday because of delays from stringent checks, Palestinian security officials said. The inspections followed last week’s suicide bombing that killed four people at the main crossing point into Israel at Erez. Effect, this is Cause... |
| Posted by:CrazyFool |
| #2 Israel’s acting Attorney General Edna Arbel told Sharon and other officials last week that the current route would be difficult to defend before the world court, a senior government official said on condition of anonymity. To mis-quote Napoleon: "The World Court? How many divisions do they have?..." |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2004-1-18 9:25:45 PM |
| #1 A moveable wall. I like it. Eventually we just have walls just around Nablus, Jenin, Jericho, Ramallah. Jericho had a wall once upon a time, but somebody blew a horn and it fell down. |
| Posted by: john 2004-1-18 8:25:03 PM |