Israeli Supreme Court orders changes to West Bank security barrier

Published: 2004-06-30

JERUSALEM (CNS) -- Israel's Supreme Court ordered the rerouting of a large section of a security wall being constructed along the West Bank, saying the wall violated the basic human rights of Palestinians. The court said June 30 that the wall "injures the local inhabitants in a severe and acute way, while violating their rights under humanitarian international law." The court noted that the wall would separate Palestinians from their ancestral lands and would restrict their freedom of movement. The "difficult reality of life" for Palestinians would only "become more severe," the court said. The judges said that the ruling was a difficult one to make and said they were "aware that in the short term this judgment will not make the state's struggle against those rising up against it easier." The Supreme Court's decision focused on a 25-mile stretch of the barrier northwest of Jerusalem that affects 35,000 people in eight villages. The fence would separate the villagers from 7,500 acres, most of it cultivated, including tens of thousands of olive trees, fruit trees and other crops, The Associated Press reported.

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