7-08-05, 8:45 am
RAMALLAH, Palestine (IPC + Agencies) - - The Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) called on all friendly parliaments to exert pressure on the Israeli government and its parliament (the Knesset) to cease the construction of the Apartheid Wall, at the same times as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ordered the acceleration of construction to wall off Jerusalem from the rest of the Palestinian population centers.
The PLC said in a press statement, on the first anniversary of the advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at the Hague, which condemned the Apartheid Wall and deemed it illegal, that the Wall destroyed Palestinian life and robbed Palestinian lands.
'All friendly and brotherly forces and peace-loving democratic movements should double their efforts in the face of Israeli settlement activities and Apartheid Wall construction, through pressuring the Israeli government to stop them,' excerpts of the statement read.
PLC called on civilians to participate in the activities next Friday and Saturday to demonstrate the Palestinian people's position toward the Wall and their insistence on resisting it.
PLC's statement came concurrent with orders by the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to accelerate work on the Apartheid Wall to end it by the end of this year, especially around the city of Jerusalem, in an effort to wall it off completely and isolate Palestinian population centers in small enclaves.
'We hope that, once legal issues are solved, that we'll finish the wall in a matter of months and seal off Jerusalem as was planned,' Eiland added.
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on Wednesday that the Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz had met with the so-called Israeli head of the Seam-Line Administration, Mashiah Netzah, and the latter briefed Mofaz the latest developments on the construction of the Wall.
Netzah added that 230 kilometers were built in the central part of the West Bank, while work is still ongoing on 190 kilometers near the illegal Israeli settlement 'Elkana' and stretching till Jerusalem. This section has drawn numerous legal objections, especially in the parts west of the city of Ramallah.
Several objections are also present before the Israeli Supreme Court regarding the route of the Apartheid Wall, including paving alternative roads for villages that the Wall will isolate their main roads.
In an effort to preempt the court's decision, Mofaz suggested to surround several villages in an enclave-like shape, instead of completely closing them with the Wall, such as in the cases of the villages of Hableh, Kufor Talateen and Sanareyya.
This solution would give the residents more than one road to use in order to reach Palestinian cities, but Palestinian officials said this suggestion would turn these villages into isolated and besieged centers.
Dr. Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, warned yesterday of the accelerated construction of the wall and especially around Jerusalem, considering it as ruining all the peace efforts.
'It is a very dangerous thing … it means that the disengagement plan would become an alternative to the Road Map and not part of it,' Erekat said, calling on the US President George W. Bush to 'exert all efforts to force Israel to cease its settlement activities and halt the construction of the wall.'
The International Court of Justice has deemed on July 2004 the Israeli Apartheid Wall as illegal, and demanded in its advisory opinion Israel of stopping its construction, removing the already built sections and compensating Palestinians affected by it.
From International Press Center
