Palestinians seek EU backing for wall ruling

Palestinians were trying to rally the EU to support a UN resolution today demanding that Israel accept a world court ruling and tear down the barrier it is building to seal off the West Bank.

The 191-member world body was meeting in New York on the Palestinian-backed draft resolution, but Nasser Al-Kidwa, the Palestinian UN observer, said national leaders did not appear ready for the vote and it could come on Monday.

“We haven’t finished some negotiations yet, and some people – they need some more time to absorb the lengthy and important advisory opinion,” he said. “We will have a good debate and a vote probably not Friday but Monday.”

The Palestinians expect “broad support” for the draft resolution, which was introduced by Arab nations and the Non-aligned Movement of 116 mostly developing countries.

They are focusing on the European Union, Al-Kidwa said. Backing from the powerful 25 nation bloc would give a significant boost to the draft resolution, though it is non-binding.

AEU experts met to discuss changes to the Palestinian draft, which were sent to capitals. But diplomats said there was still no agreed AEU position, so the bloc was not able to enter into talks with the Palestinians.

The resolution would have the General Assembly demand that Israel comply with the court’s advisory opinion from last week, which declared the barrier to be illegal. It demanded that Israel stop construction, dismantle the barrier, and provide reparations to Palestinians whose lives have been harmed by it.

The draft says that in the case of Israeli ”non-compliance”, the General Assembly would reconvene ”to consider further actions to bring to an end the illegal situation resulting from the construction of the wall.”

Diplomats said some European nations insist that the reason for Israel building the wall – as a security barrier to prevent suicide attacks against Israelis – must be included in the resolution.

General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, but they do reflect the views of the world body. Only the 15-member Security Council can order the barrier to be torn down or impose sanctions on Israel, but the United States would almost certainly use its veto power to block any resolution calling for such action.

The United States has said it strongly opposes the Palestinian draft.

Israeli Cabinet minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was confident Israel could fend off Palestinian attempts to get the United Nations to impose sanctions in the wake of the world court’s ruling. “Israel is not going to accept the court’s challenge, and I doubt that it will find passage to concrete instruments at the UN,” he said.

The General Assembly asked the world court in December for an opinion on the legality of the barrier – 425-mile-long complex of high concrete walls, razor-wire fences, trenches and watch towers. Much of the completed portion is close to Israel’s pre-1967 border, but some of it dips into the West Bank.