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Jan. 11, 2005 22:25 UN to set up registry PA's fence damage claims By ASSOCIATED PRESS UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan took the first step Tuesday to create a register for damage claims stemming from the construction of the security fence in the West Bank. Annan sent a letter to the General Assembly president on Tuesday setting out a framework for the register and the next steps in its creation. The register, as envisioned by Annan, would be based in Palestinian occupied territory "so that it will be close to the people who will be submitting their damage claims for inclusion...

Last Update: 29/12/2004 23:05 Abbas: There will be no peace until Israel tears down separation fence By Reuters Taking his campaign to succeed Yasser Arafat to the foot of the West Bank separation fence, PLO chief Mahmoud Abbas said on Wednesday there would be no peace until Israel tore it down. "No (Middle East) peace can transpire with (Jewish) settlements and the wall," Abbas said with his back to the separation fence around Qalqilyah near the West Bank's boundary with Israel. "We tell our neighbors: 'No matter how many settlements, walls or obstacles you build, it will not bring you...

Dec. 22, 2004 14:05 | Updated Dec. 22, 2004 15:57 Security fence guard killed in shooting attack near Hebron By ETGAR LEFKOVITS AND MARGOT DUDKEVITCH An Israeli security guard was shot and killed Wednesday afternoon by suspected Palestinian assailants near the West Bank city of Hebron, rescue officials said. The security guard was safeguarding construction of the security barrier going up by the Palestinian village of Idna east of Hebron. The Fatah Al Aksa Martyrs' Brigades claimed responsibility for the shooting. According to reports, two men with pistols shot the security guard at close range at about 2 p.m. The...

"The report documents Israeli roadblocks, expansion of settlements, the building of the defensive barrier, and other measures, citing them as the reason for loss of jobs in the region of Bethlehem, mostly in the tourism industry, but also in agricultural fields such as olive oil manufacturing. Since September 2000, which marks the beginning of the second intifada, one-tenth of Christian residents have fled, leaving the Bethlehem Christian population at an all-time low of 9.3% of the total residency, according to the report." It ignores, however, a larger trend of flight of Christians from the Middle East, as well as a...

Yasser Arafat's death, a more optimistic air in the region, and Europe's reluctance right now to support anti-Israeli initiatives are responsible for knocking the security fence – at least temporarily – off the UN's agenda. One senior European diplomatic official in Israel said the EU has made clear to the Palestinians they would not support a Palestinian resolution on the security fence if it were brought to the General Assembly or the Security Council now. In July the EU "disappointed" Israel by supporting a General Assembly resolution that called on Israel to comply with the International Court of Justice ruling...

Aug. 3, 2004 21:09 Polish leader: France sees us as threat By ETGAR LEFKOVITS Poland's recent entry into the European Union is viewed by France as a threat to its domination over Europe, and relations between the two countries are likely to remain sour for years, the Polish opposition leader said. "France does not believe it is one of the centers of Europe. They believe that they are the leaders of Europe and that everybody should recognize this," the head of the Polish center-right Civic Platform Party, Jan Rokita, said in an interview with The Jerusalem Post in his office...

Mofaz denies barrier running along Green LineUri Yablonka Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz has said the barrier will not be routed along the Green Line, even after its route is changed according to the HCJ's (High Court of Justice)criteria. He said that in some parts the barrier would be closer ot the Green Line than originally envisaged, and that the amount of Palestinian lands expropriated for the barrier will be reduced almost by half, from 3,500 acres to just under 2,000. He said that Ma'aleh Adumin and gush ezion would remian witihn the security barrier. (2004-08-02 18:18:14.0)

Cabinet mulls leaving capital's Arab districts outside barrier Considered a possible security risk, Arab residents of north and east Jerusalem may find themselves living on opposite side of security fence. Amir Rapaport In recent unpublicized meetings, Israeli security officials have been discussing the possibility of leaving the Arab neighborhoods of north and east Jerusalem outside the boundaries of the security fence. These plans are consistent with comments made in June by Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who told Maariv NRG that the neighborhoods in question would be under Palestinian jurisdiction: "In the future, in an effort to improve the demographic...

EU says it would reconsider position on PA if Abu Ala resigns After meeting FM Shalom in Jerusalem, EU foreign affairs chief Solana says if Abu Ala ends up just as Abu Mazen, conclusions could be drawn. Gil Horev Solana (right) and Shalom today in Jerusalem (Foreign Ministry photo). If Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei (Abu Ala) resigns we would have to reconsider our position regarding the Palestinian Authority, European Union foreign affairs chief Javier Solana has stated. During a press conference he held with Foreign Minister Sylvan Shalom after a joint meeting this (Thursday) afternoon in Jerusalem, Solana said,...

Israeli adviser: Egypt proposing Mideast peace conference Thursday, July 22, 2004 Posted: 5:42 AM EDT (0942 GMT) JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Egypt is proposing a Mideast peace conference in October, according to Moshe Debi, an adviser to Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom. The October talks would include Israeli and Palestinian foreign ministers, as well as foreign ministers from the "Mideast Quartet" -- the United Nations, the United States, the European Union and Russia, Debi said.

Judges from a variety of unsavory regimes complain about Israel's fence.THE WORLD COURT'S ruling that the West Bank barrier is illegal and must be torn down has been greeted in Israel with a giant shrug of the shoulders. The court's opinion is only "advisory," and any attempt by the United Nations to enforce it is sure to be vetoed by the United States. The barrier--which the court tendentiously referred to as "the wall" (most of it is actually a chain-link fence)--will continue to go up. Yet the ruling is not without significance, insofar as it contributes to the growing impression...

Among various principles invoked by the International Court of Justice in its highly publicized decision on Israel's security fence is this one: It is a violation of international law for Jews to be living in the Jewish quarter of Jerusalem.

With the US standing firmly behind Israel, and the Arab world united against it, the UN General Assembly debated the security fence's legitimacy Friday. The debate was held under the banner, "Israel's illegal actions in East Jerusalem and the rest of the occupied Palestinian territories." Amongst the speakers at Friday's debate are Palestinian envoy to the UN Nasser al-Kidwa, and Israel's Ambassador to the UN Dan Gillerman. First to speak was al-Kidwa. Al-Kidwa, the Palestinian U.N. observer, informed the U.N. General Assembly that the Palestinians may seek a follow-up to the International Court of Justice advisory opinion a week ago...

Hague-wash: Court of 'Justice' ruling a joke! Aaron Klein The United Nations has outdone itself again. In an almost unanimous decision, the International Court of Justice ruled Friday that Israel's security fence – which is credited by even Hamas with keeping suicide bombers out – violates international law, and must be dismantled. The court proclaimed "[it] is not convinced" that Israel's security fence "is necessary to attain its security objectives." Palestinian leaders were, of course, overjoyed. Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei described the ruling as "historic," while Yasser Arafat called the decision a "victory for justice." And when Arafat...

Euro-Nazis alive and well Joseph Farah When the euphemistically named International Court of Justice ruled last week that Israel's security fence, credited with keeping suicide bombers out of the country and dramatically reducing the number of innocent Jewish civilians killed by terrorists, was illegal and must be torn down, it showed that Nazism wasn't destroyed in 1945. Beginning in the fall of 2000, the Palestinian Authority, headed by Yasser Arafat, began a systematic campaign of violence against Israeli civilians. Hundreds of Israelis have been killed in suicide bombing attacks, all of which originated from Palestinian Authority territory. Many thousands of...

Europe and the ICJ Many things have been and remain to be said about Friday's advisory opinion on Israel's security fence by the 15-member International Court of Justice, most of it having to do with the court's jurisdiction, fitness, and reasoning. How can Israel expect justice from an international tribunal on which no Israeli jurist is eligible to serve? How can we expect it from one on which Egyptian and Jordanian judges do serve? How does the court sidestep the question of the terrorism that created the fence and then render an opinion on the legality of settlements? But all...

Israel follows its own law, not bigoted Hague decision By ALAN DERSHOWITZ The Israeli government has both a legal and a moral obligation to comply with the Israeli Supreme Court's decision regarding the security fence. After all, the Supreme Court is a creation of the Knesset and is therefore representative of all of the people – Jews, Muslims, and Christians alike. Moreover, the Supreme Court has a real stake in both sides of the fence dispute. Its job is to balance the security needs of its citizens against the humanitarian concerns of West Bank Palestinians. It tried to strike that...

BEAVER, W.V., July 9 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Senator John Kerry released the following statement today regarding the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel's security fence: "I am deeply disappointed by today's International Court of Justice ruling related to Israel's security fence. Israel's fence is a legitimate response to terror that only exists in response to the wave of terror attacks against Israel. The fence is an important tool in Israel's fight against terrorism. It is not a matter for the ICJ. "I have made very clear from the start that I do not believe that the ICJ should even...

Stoop-shouldered and bespectacled, Hader Abu Sheikh, a 33-year-old official for the Palestinian Legislative Council in Jenin, is hardly a party animal. But that did not stop him from noticing that "there is 70 percent more nightlife in Jenin than a year ago." "We are talking about the resumption of traditional Palestinian nightlife," explains Abu Sheikh. "Weddings, men sitting in cafes late at night, women visiting each other... The point is, people are no longer confined to their houses at night, because Israel has left the city." Nightlife, in Jenin? Rattled for three years by Israeli raids against local terrorists, Jenin...

Construction of the security fence is being held up indefinitely by court orders and insufficient manpower, the Ministry of Defense said last week. Senior security officials said the delay in the barrier's construction is a "gamble on human lives," and warned that it could enable Palestinian terrorists to infiltrate into Israel. "The plan to complete the fence in the Jerusalem area by the end of the year is still valid, but we are facing many statutory problems due to High Court of Justice appeals preventing construction in many different places," a statement issued by the ministry said. Last week, High...