UN Vote on Israeli Barrier Put Off One More Day
Mon Jul 19, 2004 04:40 PM ET
By Irwin Arieff
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Arab diplomats on Monday delayed for a second time a U.N. vote on a resolution demanding that Israel tear down its West Bank barrier, in hopes of winning support from the 25-nation European Union.
While the measure already has enough votes to win passage in the 191-nation General Assembly, the EU is seen by many at the United Nations as a moral compass, able to bring along with it as many as 25 other nations, U.N. diplomats said.
Under the resolution drafted by Palestinian U.N. observer Nasser al-Kidwa, the assembly would pressure Israel to comply with a recent World Court ruling that the barrier was illegal and should be dismantled.
A vote initially had been set for last Friday and would have capped a day-long emergency session of the General Assembly convened at the request of Arab and nonaligned nations.
But voting was postponed until Monday, and then to Tuesday, to give Arab and European Union diplomats more time to try to reach a deal on changes sought by the EU to win its support.
Diplomats said support from the EU and other nations that often vote with the Europeans would bolster a case for sanctions against Israel should it fulfill a vow to ignore the court ruling.
"We had conversations with Mr. al-Kidwa and other Arab diplomats over the weekend. For the EU, we thought it would be very welcome to have another day," said one EU diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Negotiations were taking place on two levels: between EU and Arab diplomats and also among EU states themselves, as the European bloc had yet to agree on a common stand among its own members, European diplomats acknowledged.
U.S. Ambassador John Danforth has said repeatedly that Washington opposes the resolution because it was "unbalanced" and would further undermine the already moribund Middle East peace process.
The assembly agreed to take up the measure after the World Court ruled July 9 that the barrier was illegal because it cuts deep into West Bank land dotted with Israeli settlements since the 1967 Middle East War.
The court, formally known as the International Court of Justice and based in The Hague, is the top U.N. legal body.
Palestinians see the 370-mile project, which sweeps deep into West Bank land to shield Israeli settlements, as a land grab that would thwart their dream of statehood.
Israel argues the combination of razor-tipped fencing and concrete is needed to keep out suicide bombers and insists it is only temporary.
The Palestinian draft would affirm "the illegality of any territorial acquisition resulting from the threat or use of force" and would demand that Israel dismantle the barrier and pay reparations for any damages caused by its construction.
But while the Palestinian draft would "accept" the World Court ruling, some European states including Britain insist it only "take note" of the opinion while others want it to "welcome" the judgment.
European states are also divided over whether the text should express concern about a section of the court ruling suggesting that under the U.N. Charter, a state had the right to defend itself only against an attack from another state, and not, for example, from a suicide bomber.
Diplomats said most EU states, however, were united in wanting the text to recognize Israeli security concerns and refer to the obligations of both sides under the road map to peace set out by the quartet of Middle East mediators -- the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia.
posted by Richard at
Monday, July 19, 2004
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