BAKA AL-SHARQIYA, West Bank, 23 February 2004 — Israel began tearing down a small section of its controversial West Bank barrier yesterday, a day before the World Court opens hearings on the legality of the project.
"There's no connection between the two things," Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom told Israel Radio. But Justice Minister Yosef Lapid said in a television interview that Israel would reap "very positive media spin" from the move. Palestinian Cabinet Minister Saeb Erekat called it a public relations stunt.
Civilian work crews using wire clippers cut into an eight-km section of electronic fence that separates the Palestinian village of Baka Al-Sharqiya from the rest of the West Bank.
Israel pointed to a suicide bus bombing in Jerusalem that killed at least seven people and wounded dozens yesterday as proof the barrier was needed even as one part was coming down.
The section being dismantled is only a fraction of the network of razor wire-tipped fences and towering cement walls that is planned to extend for 728 km and already snakes into occupied territory Palestinians want for a state.
The segment was coming down following the completion last week of another part of the barrier dividing Baka Al-Sharqiya in the northern West Bank from its sister village of Baka Al-Gharbiya, which is just inside Israel.
A military source said the section would take less than a week to dismantle. A project manager said some 8,000 Palestinians would be reconnected with the West Bank after the segment was removed.
Palestinians call it a land grab and plan a "Day of Rage" at the start of hearings today at the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qorie said on Saturday that the Israeli step did not go far enough, telling reporters: "We will not agree to even one millimeter of the barrier."
The World Court's ruling is non-binding, but Israel fears the United Nations General Assembly - which asked for the advisory opinion and where pro-Palestinian sentiment is strong - could use the ruling to lobby for sanctions against it.
Palestinians have expressed confidence of victory in the ICJ hearing insisting the latest suicide attack in Jerusalem will not undermine their cause.
While Israel has refused to send any legal representatives to argue its case at the International Court of Justice hearings from today, confining its arguments to written submissions filed last month.
In contrast, the Palestinians are planning a three-hour presentation at the start of the case in The Hague, which is likely to include a visual presentation of the impact on the lives of West Bank residents. Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) legal adviser Michael Tarazi, who is part of the Palestinian delegation in The Hague, said that they were not disputing Israel's right to defend itself by building a barrier on its territory.
"This case is not about whether Israel has the right to build a wall on its own territory; it has every right to do so," Tarazi told AFP. "If the wall was built on the Green Line, we would not be here," he added in reference to the 1949 armistice line between Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Palestinian representatives will argue that the barrier is illegal under the terms of international law as it often juts deep into their territory and that the court must deliver a verdict as a clear message to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government even if it is only advisory.
Meanwhile, international pressure group Human Rights Watch yesterday slammed Israel's West Bank barrier as a "serious violation" of the Jewish state's obligations under the Geneva Conventions and a blatant attempt to consolidate illegal Jewish settlement in the territories.
The barrier "entails serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law," the group said in a briefing paper.
"Israel's separation barrier seriously impedes Palestinian access to essentials of civilian life, such as work, education and medical care," said Joe Stork, acting head of the group's Middle East and North Africa division.