Dr. Saeb Erekat on the 11th Anniversary of the ICJ Opinion Regarding the Israeli Annexation Wall

The Opinion of the  International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the Israeli Annexation Wall does not only reaffirm the illegality of the  construction of the Wall in the Occupied State of Palestine and its dramatic impact on the Palestinian people, but it also highlights the responsibility that all states have toward  putting a stop to Israeli crimes in Palestine.

The ICJ reaffirms that the Palestinian right to self-determination is an obligation for all States to realize. Eleven years on, the international community has not fulfilled its obligations toward the Palestinian people to achieve freedom. In fact, while Israel has continued to build settlements, increasing the settler population from 425,000 settlers in 2004 to approximately 600,000 today, States have failed to take meaningful action against the Israeli Annexation Wall and  the Israeli settler-colonial enterprise as a whole. In fact, some States have strengthened their ties with Israel, despite it being a belligerent occupying power in contravention of international law.

Today, 150 Palestinian communities have been isolated in the area between the Israeli Annexation Wall and the 1967 border. Just this week, an Israeli Occupation Court gave the green light to its army to build the Wall through the Cremisan Valley, strangling the Bethlehem district and dividing 58 families from their land, in an attempt to expand the illegal settlements of Gilo and Har Gilo. At the same time, the peaceful Palestinian popular resistance in areas like Bil’in, Nil’in and Burin, have highlighted the consequences of the Wall and the steadfastness of our people. The international community cannot simply continue to violate its own obligations. To stop Israeli crimes and to ensure the Palestinian right to self-determination is an international obligation.

International action in accordance with the ICJ opinion is long overdue. Supporting the Palestinian right of self-determination should be translated into tangible steps such as the recognition of the State of Palestine on the 1967 border. Action against Israeli colonization begins by banning all settlement products and divestment from all companies and institutions complicit in the Israeli occupation.

Materials on the Israeli Annexation Wall:

• InfoGraphic “11 years after the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice on the Legal Consequences of a Wall in Occupied Palestine”
• Link to PLO Animation “The World is Obliged to Bring About This End”