Jerusalem – Israel must tear down its West Bank separation barrier, a senior U.N. official said today, marking five years since the International Court of Justice declared the barrier illegal and a violation of Palestinian rights.
Subscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
The barrier separates Israel from the West Bank and in places cuts into Palestinian territory.
Israel started building it in 2002 to stop a wave of suicide bombing attacks by Palestinians, who infiltrated across the cease-fire line.
Palestinians charge the complex of walls, trenches, barbed wire and electronic sensors is a land grab that cuts people off from their property and basic services.
Israel did not recognize the 2004 ruling against the barrier by the International Court of Justice, an advisory opinion with no enforcement mechanism.
The barrier is about two-thirds completed. The southern section, near sparsely populated areas on both sides of the line, has not been constructed. Israel’s Supreme Court has forced rerouting of several segments closer to the Israel-West Bank line.
At a news conference in Jerusalem to mark the anniversary, the U.N. released a statement concluding that the completed barrier would close in 35,000 Palestinians and wall off another 125,000 on three sides.
About 2.4 million Palestinians live in the West Bank.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, said the barrier is only part of the problem.
“The wall is but one element of the wider system of severe restrictions on the freedom of movement imposed by the Israeli authorities on Palestinian residents of the West Bank,” Pillay said. Israeli must “dismantle the wall” and “make reparations for all damage suffered by all persons affected by the wall’s construction,” she said.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry did not comment on the statement. Israel’s government has said in the past that the completed sections of the barrier have significantly reduced Palestinian attacks in Israel.
The U.N. said it will release a full report on the humanitarian impact of the barrier later this month.
And I rule that the UN must tear down our building in NYC and get the hell out of here
Disarm all the terrorists first.
i must be built up all around the arabs they are not palestinians for there own pertaction . U.N. did you also make the same demands when your good germans made camps for jews did you also demand that your friends to remove the camps? perhaps we should build a wall around the UN too. by the way UN you know that there is no people called palestinians. they are just arabs that came to my land, the land of the jews to do work on my land now they can just leave
This is not a good idea and if for some reason they do take it seriously, the UN should reimburse the cost for removing the wall
you farsholtene UN official, how about also telling your arab buddies that carrying out suicide missions is also illegal.
who care what the UN thinks
What about the right to defend oneself? ,what about reparations for all the terrorisim?
when will the UN make a study on that amount?. Never!!
This reminds me of the story of Alexander and the egyptians who asked for the money we took out of their land,a smart yid replied first pay us for 600,000 people working for 210 years and then will pay you ,the egyptians ran away. Same thing here first pay for ALL the effects of the terrorism and then will pay for the inconvienice of the wall.
When they let us go sightseeing in Mecca, that’s when we’ll talk…
this is really stupid for a UN official to say,it actually makes their job easier not to get between the Israelies and Palestinians and it deffinitely made the region safer shame on you UN you have proven yourself yet again how foolish and biased you are
“The U.N. said it will release a full report on the humanitarian impact of the barrier later this month”.
They shouldn’t forget to also release a full report on the life saving impact, that this barrier has had, on significantly reducing attacks.
Don’t hold your breath.
An open letter to the useless creatures in the UN:
Dear UN,
I will only say this once so I want to
make this PERFECTLY clear to you so you could follow without any questions:
GO TO HELL & DROP DEAD ON THE WAY!!!!!!
i recall reading that the US had some sort of ceremony the other day on the completion of a wall in california or texas this wall is meant to keep the illegal alliens and those smugling drugs out of the US. where is the UN on that? i think the US should tear down that wall.
dear all unwelcome UN members,
I think it’s time you get out of your arab loving seats in NYC and build your office with your friends in some arab country. at the same token mind your own business!!! if you love the arabs that much go join them! I am sure your loving arab friends will welcome you with open arms and they will have no problem putting you up in some of their bombed out buildings.
The UN has its place in the world and does do some very good things (feeding starving children in Africa, etc.) They should stick to that. Israel has a right to defend itself against all enemies in whatever way it deems necessary. While I am sure there is a very large number of innocent Palestinians suffering, they are suffering at the hands of their terrorist leaders, not Israel. Until the anti-violence movement gains some traction over there, Israel has few options in dealing with the situation. The wall was a brilliant idea to peacefully cut off the terrorists without escalating the violence.
The UN can stick their resolution where the sun don’t shine.
If Israel is forced to remove the wall, and “anything” chas v’shalom should happen, that wall will be rebuilt faster than this one was and at the UN’s expense !! As soon as it comes down, everybody knows what is going to happen!
Do some of you actually believe that Israel will still be here in 10 years?
Can I sell you some Ocean-front property here in Beautiful Arizona?
Israel is history. They are just taking their time nibbling a bit at a time until it is over.
They are waiting for Israel to do something which could be interpreted as an outright act of aggression, then ……
You would think the UN might comment on the 200,000 murdered by Islamist extremist in Algeria, or the 2 million killed and the 4 Million refugees in Somalia, but i guess that pales in comparison to a wall that Israel built to stop Arabs from killing Jews. You think that Nazi Kurt Waldheim was still secretary general.
I must admit that I don’t know much about the politics over in Isreal. I live in Texas, and we have a problem with illegal immigrants coming into Texas from mexico. If the wall keeps terrorists out of Isreal, then I’m sure it would keep wet backs out of Texas. If Isreal has to remove the wall, I would like to request that they send it C.O.D. to Texas. We will gladly purchase it from them to keep the criminals in Mexico and out of Texas.