Ray Dolphin The West Bank Wall, Unmaking Palestine (2006)

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.Italy, speaking on behalf of the EuropeanUnion, expressed strong opposition to the route in the West Bankand urged Israel to respect the principles of international law.However, when it came to the vote, the United Kingdom andGermany two EU countries on the 15-member Council abstained.In any case, the United States used its veto power as apermanent member of the Council to kill the resolution.Express-ing what was by now the standard Washington position, the USrepresentative John Negroponte made no reference to internationallaw, declaring only that the wall should not intrude on the lives ofPalestinians or prejudge the outcome of final negotiations.Negro-ponte was still insisting that the Road Map was the way forward,to which the PLO representative, Nasser El Kidwa, replied: You cannot have construction of the expansionist wall andsimultaneously pretend that the Road Map exists.It s either/or. 10Thwarted by the US veto, the Arab League requested aresumed emergency session of the General Assembly in light ofthe inability of the Security Council to fulfil its responsibility for[ 150 ]0_7453_2434_7_05_cha04.qxd 30/11/2005 15:08 Page 151THE WALL AND THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITYthe maintenance of international peace and security due to theexercise of one of the permanent members of the veto.Theprocedure was based on the Uniting for Peace resolution of1950, an initiative designed to circumvent automatic Sovietvetoes in the Security Council by referring issues to the GeneralAssembly.Unlike the Security Council members, no member ofthe 191-nation General Assembly wields a power of veto, but forall its significance in representing the will of the internationalcommunity a General Assembly resolution is non-binding.Adraft resolution was circulated, essentially the same as that vetoedby the United States the previous week.In an unexpected move, asecond draft text was introduced seeking an advisory opinionfrom the International Court of Justice as to whether Israel waslegally obliged to stop construction and dismantle the wall.However, following negotiations between the European Unionand Arab governments, the text requesting the advisory opinionwas dropped.On 21 October Italy, on behalf of the European Union, intro-duced a revised draft resolution expressing the General Assem-bly s concern that the route of the wall could prejudice futurenegotiations, make the two-state solution impossible and causefurther hardship to the Palestinians.The resolution demandedthat Israel stop and reverse the construction of the wall in theOccupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around EastJerusalem, which is in departure of the Armistice Line of 1949and is in contradiction to relevant provisions of internationallaw.It also requested that the UN Secretary-General submit afirst report on compliance within one month, following whichfurther actions could be considered within the UN system.11 Allthe EU countries were among the 144 who voted in favour, whilethe United States was one of the four who voted against.Despite this resounding international censure, Israel vowed tocontinue construction.Unsurprisingly, the Secretary-General s[ 151 ]0_7453_2434_7_05_cha04.qxd 30/11/2005 15:08 Page 152THE WEST BANK WALLreport the following month found that Israel was not complyingwith the resolution.Another emergency session of the GeneralAssembly was convened at which the PLO proceeded to reintro-duce the draft resolution requesting an advisory opinion from theInternational Court of Justice on the legal implications of the routethrough the West Bank and East Jerusalem.The European Unionagain pressed to have the text withdrawn.Failing this, the EUcountries abstained in the 8 December vote, on the basis of theconviction of many Member States that transferring the matter ofthe Wall to a legal forum would do nothing to advance the politi-cal process necessary for peace.12 Despite this, the resolution waspassed, with 90 in favour, eight against and 74 abstentions.The Secretary-General s report had noted that in the midstof the road map process the Barrier s construction in the WestBank cannot, in this regard, be seen as anything but a deeplycounterproductive act [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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