The Arab States called on Monday the United Nations General Assembly to convene an emergency session to demand that Israel comply with the International Law as stated by the International Court of Justice ruling on July 9 concerning the West Bank Separation Wall.
The Arab group hopes that the 191-nation assembly would take up a draft resolution seeking to implement the ICJ ruling.
The International Court of Justice in The Hague said in an ‘advisory opinion’ last Friday that the Wall Israel is currently building violates international law by cutting deep into West Bank occupied land and asked Israel to tear it down and compensate the Palestinians for the loss caused by the current construction.
The Palestinians and the Arab group are planning to take the resolution to the 15-nation UN security Council which issues binding decisions, unlike the General assembly’s ones.
However, the Palestinian UN observer, Nasser al-Kidwa, said the Palestinians would wait before taking their case to the Security Council in search of ‘additional measures to be taken to end the current illegal situation.’
He and the Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei have separately denied the delay was intended to put off a council debate until after the U.S. elections in the coming November, as some Palestinian officials have said.
‘The timing will depend on the developments on the ground and how much progress we are achieving in terms of compliance, or lack of it,’ al-Kidwa told reporters.
No doubt that the only safety net for Israel in the Security Council is the United States’ VETO which if used against a resolution demanding Israel to tear down the Wall, the U.S. will be standing against the International Law by obstructing the International Court of Justice ruling. This will affect the Election Campaigns they believe.
However, others believe this will not affect election campaigns as both President George W. Bush and Presidential candidate John Kerry support the Wall and object the ICJ ruling.
