vauge

Source: Yahoo News

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The World Court will rule on Friday that Israel's West Bank barrier, which has wrought hardship for thousands of Palestinians, violates international law and should be torn down, a leaked copy of the ruling showed.

It said the court would declare that the swathe of fences and walls infringed the rights of Palestinian inhabitants who have been trapped in enclaves by sections that take in Jewish settlements on occupied territory.

"The construction of the wall and its associated regime are contrary to international law," said the document leaked to Reuters in Jerusalem hours before its scheduled 9 a.m. EDT announcement in The Hague (news - web sites) where the court is based.

"(It has) imposed substantial restrictions on the freedom of movement of the occupied Palestinian territory."

Israel has said it would disregard the non-binding decision, calling the barrier a vital security bulwark against infiltrating Palestinian militants. Palestinians brand it a precursor to annexation of land Israel captured in a 1967 war.

The leaked text of the ruling also urged follow-up action by the U.N. General Assembly and U.N. Security Council, which could heighten Israeli concern about a move to mete out sanctions against the Jewish state over the barrier.

"The court is of the view that the United Nations (news - web sites), and especially the General Assembly and Security Council, should consider what further action is required to bring an end to the illegal situation resulting from the construction of the wall."

Palestinians tend to enjoy considerable support within U.N. institutions.

ISRAEL HOPES U.S. COULD STYMIE SANCTIONS MOVE

Israel looks to the veto power of key ally the United States in the Security Council to block any Palestinian-driven bid to punish Israel as apartheid South Africa was after the World Court ruled its occupation of Namibia illegal in 1971.

Palestinian authorities, who seek a state in the West Bank and Gaza, counted on the court -- the top U.N. legal body and formally known as the International Court of Justice -- to declare the barrier illegal to enable possible sanctions.

The World Court acknowledged "various documents" were being circulated before the announced ruling but said in a statement: "The registrar of the court wishes to make it clear that the only authentic text is the official text issued by the court."

There was no immediate official Israeli response to the leaked decision. Palestinian President Yasser Arafat (news - web sites) told reporters on Thursday: "We put tremendous faith in this court."

The General Assembly requested an opinion in December and The Hague court held hearings in February overshadowed by the theatrical lobbying and demonstrations of both sides.

The ruling was expected to be one of the most closely monitored in the 58-year history of the World Court and attested to paralysis in Middle East peacemaking after years of violence.

Israeli officials say the barrier, about a third of whose planned more than 370-mile length has been built since 2002, has already pre-empted dozens of suicide bomb attacks. Such bombers have killed hundreds of Israelis.

"We will abide by the ruling of our own High Court and not the panel in The Hague with judges from the European Union (news - web sites) who are not suspected of being particularly disposed toward Israel," Justice Minister Yosef Lapid told Israeli Army Radio on Friday.

Palestinians condemn the barrier as a territorial grab since its charted route often diverges from the boundary with Israel well into the West Bank to encompass settlements Israel vows never to yield under any future peace treaty. "The court is not convinced that the construction of the wall along the route chosen was the only means to safeguard the interests of Israel," the leaked document read. (Additional reporting by Emma Thomasson in The Hague and Mohammed Assadi in the West Bank)

KD5DBL

Ah yes... the good old "we'll abide by your decision only if we like what you decide" method.

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--
David
"Opinions are like butts..."

CSA_TX

It is Israels right to protect their country and their citizens by putting up this wall. After all it is their land and they are being real freaking nice to allow the palistines an oppertunity to have a state of there own. How come none of the Arab nations are willing to give the palistinians some land to create there own country.It would be the same as the UN telling us we can't put a fence between us and Mexico. **** them and the horse they rode in. Freaking tresspassing on sovern nations rights.

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Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and the government when it deserves it. M Twain

KD5DBL

Mending Wall
by Robert Frost


Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,
And spills the upper boulders in the sun;
And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.
The work of hunters is another thing:
I have come after them and made repair
Where they have left not one stone on a stone,
But they would have the rabbit out of hiding,
To please the yelping dogs. The gaps I mean,
No one has seen them made or heard them made,
But at spring mending-time we find them there.
I let my neighbor know beyond the hill;
And on a day we meet to walk the line
And set the wall between us once again.
We keep the wall between us as we go.
To each the boulders that have fallen to each.
And some are loaves and some so nearly balls
We have to use a spell to make them balance:
'Stay where you are until our backs are turned!'
We wear our fingers rough with handling them.
Oh, just another kind of outdoor game,
One on a side. It comes to little more:
There where it is we do not need the wall:
He is all pine and I am apple orchard.
My apple trees will never get across
And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.
He only says, 'Good fences make good neighbors.'
Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder
If I could put a notion in his head:
'Why do they make good neighbors? Isn't it
Where there are cows? But here there are no cows.
Before I built a wall I'd ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offense.
Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That wants it down.' I could say 'Elves' to him,
But it's not elves exactly, and I'd rather
He said it for himself. I see him there
Bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top
In each hand, like an old-stone savage armed.
He moves in darkness as it seems to me,
Not of woods only and the shade of trees.
He will not go behind his father's saying,
And he likes having thought of it so well
He says again, 'Good fences make good neighbors.'

--------------

Interesting last line... isn't it?

The Liberal Puke

Has any of you wonder what have the Palestinians done to deserve this? I guess no since they are being compared to Mexicans.

and most people ( I'm not pointing finger here) are willing to start shooting them at the border.

BDH wrote:

CSA_TX wrote:

Vauge wrote:

Talon wrote:

jcueckert13 wrote:

And to top it all up CSA-TX exclaimed:

Something is definitely wrong here. And I thought you were wondering what has the Palestinians done to deserve this?

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Leave Me Alone!

vauge

LP, you are off topic.

We were talking about Mexicans crossing the American border. Protecting our own.

If Israel wants to put up a wall and have target practice - it is their decision.

Second, what have the Jews done to DESERVE suicide bombing? The palestinians were cast out of Jordan. The land they are wanting to take from Israel is just (if not more) holy to Christians/Jews than Muslims.

The Liberal Puke

No sir go back and read my reply, I am not off topic. I said the Palestinians are being compared to Mexicans and most of you wanna shoot Mexicans at the border. When CSA-TX wrote:

bdh

Holy crap Liberal Puke!

You may actually have a point. The mexicans just want to come in to our country and take our jobs, suck up our social services, and destroy our culture and the fabric of our society (sounds like the democratic party). The Palistinians are taught from the age of 10 how to blow themselves up and kill as many Jews possible in the process. Arafat has kept them in concentration camps to garner world sympathy, meanwhile, indoctrinating their youth and culture to the false notion that Israel has somehow screwed them out of their land. A short history lesson will show that when Israel was first created in 1948 the Palestinians rejected an offer to have their own country. In fact, they were ordered out of Israel so the Arabs could invade and destroy Israel. Well, as history has shown, don't mess with God's chosen people. The Arabs have gotten their asses kicked every time, and lately the Jews have shown remarkable restraint. So the bloody Palisinians are reaping just a small part of what they've sown.
So the bottom line is yes, the mexican illegal immigration problem is serious and needs to be addressed, through military or other means. But at least they aren't attacking us with car bombs. But if they do, believe me, the walls will go up and the Texas Redneck Sniper Brigade will be deployed. (DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS)!

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I can remember the good 'ol days when the bureau of alcohol, tobacco, and firearms was a mans nightstand!.........bdh

Talon

First the Wall in Germany, Now the West Bank, MY GAWD are we going to tear down the Great Wall of China next? We have borders for a reason, and just because people want to get along, or try to get along we will always have borders. Just look in your own back yards. How many people here don't have a fence separating their backyard from their neighbor?

Tim the Tool Man had a Fence between him and his good friend and neighbor Wilson.

Walls, and Fences are here to stay.

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-Talon

How come we choose from just two people to run for president and 50 for Miss America?

CSA_TX

Liberal_puke the point I was making and that I stand by 100% is that every nation has a right to protect their borders with any means they see fit. The international court and the UN have no rights to infringe on any nations right to self protection or sovernty.