Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: Due anni dopo

http://www.btselem.org/english/separation_barrier/20060709_Hague_2nd_anniver
sary.asp
9 July 2006: Two Years after the ICJ's Decision on the Separation Barrier
Two years ago today [9 July 2004], the International Court of Justice, in
The Hague , gave its advisory opinion on the Separation Barrier. The judges
held that building the barrier in the West Bank violates international law.
Thus, the court held, Israel must tear down the sections that stray from the
Green Line, cancel the accompanying permit regime, and compensate
Palestinians whose rights were violated by the barrier. The court also urged
the UN General Assembly and the Security Council to consider actions to end
the illegal situation created following construction of the barrier in the
West Bank .
Despite the court's opinion, Israel has continued to build the barrier
inside the West Bank . The planned length of the barrier is, at the present
time, 700 kilometers: fifty-one percent has been completed, thirteen percent
is under construction, and construction has not begun on thirty-six percent.
Some eighty percent of the planned route lies inside the West Bank , with
the remaining twenty percent running along the Green Line. Upon completion
of the barrier, 8.5 percent of the West Bank (including East Jerusalem )
will be situated in the "seam zone," the area between the barrier and the
Green Line. This area contains sixty settlements (including twelve in East
Jerusalem), in which some 381,000 Israelis live (192,000 in East
Jerusalem ).
The ICJ held that, despite Israel 's contention that security considerations
alone were taken into account in setting the route, there is a suspicion
that the barrier will establish "completed facts" that will lead to Israel
's de facto annexation of the seam zone, in violation of the right of the
Palestinian people to self-determination. According to B'Tselem's joint
research with Bimkom, the main consideration in setting the route along
twelve sections of the barrier was the desire to place west of the barrier
lands that are intended for settlement expansion. In one of the cases, the
Israeli Iigh Court has confirmed that the central consideration in setting
the route was the existence of an unapproved settlement expansion plan, and
that the information provided by the state in the matter was false.
As a result of the barrier's construction in the West Bank , seventeen
Palestinian towns and villages, in which 27,500 Palestinians reside, will be
situated, following completion of the barrier, in the "seam zone". The
residents will have to obtain permits from the Israelis to continue living
in their homes. Another 220,000 Palestinians, who live in East Jerusalem,
will also find themselves living west of the barrier and will have to cross
checkpoints and hold permits to allow them to go to various parts of the
West Bank . Tens of thousands of other Palestinians who own land in the
"seam zone" will have to obtain permits to enter and work their farmland.
Past experience has shown that the permit regime severely impairs the right
of thousands of Palestinians to freedom of movement, to work, and to gain a
livelihood.
In addition, the barrier will surround part or all of 3.4 percent of the
West Bank , in which 248,000 Palestinians live in fifty-four towns and
villages. These communities will be surrounded by the barrier, but the
residents will not need permits or have to cross checkpoints to get to other
areas in the West Bank . However, the barrier will reduce the possibility of
the communities' urban development and will limit the freedom of movement of
their residents.
On 30 April 2006, the government of Israel approved a revised route that was
supposed to reduce the harm to the Palestinians' fabric of life. However,
the changes have a marginal overall effect. The new route is thirty
kilometers longer than the old route . Only 0.5 percent of the total West
Bank area will be removed from the seam zone as a result of the new route.
Also, it removes four Palestinian villages, which have 2,300 residents, from
the seam zone. On the other hand, one village, which is home to 900 persons,
is placed inside the seam zone. The route in the bloc of settlements around
Ariel ("the fingers") was also changed, but without altering the number of
settlements on the Israeli side or the number of Palestinian communities
that will be surrounded partially or completely by the barrier.

The ICJ held
*HELD* .... un par de palle.  Specialmente con una *ADVISORY OPINION*.
-Stefano