Statement from Israeli Delegation at the Hague

Statement from Israeli Delegation at the Hague

(Communicated by the Israeli Delegation at the Hague)

Monday, 23 February, 2004

At the same time as Israel is burying eight victims of a suicide bombing yesterday by a member of Yasser Arafat’s own Al Aqsa brigade, the Palestinians are using the United Nations Court to attack Israel for building a fence that could have saved their lives.

The Palestinian statements to the court today confirmed the concerns of many

countries about the one-sided nature of the question before the court:

it seeks to put Israel’s measures to stop terrorism on trial, but not the terrorists themselves; it focuses only on Palestinian quality of life and not on the right of Israelis to life itself; and it stresses only Israeli responsibilities without a word about the responsibilities of the Palestinian side.