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February 6, 2004/Shevat 14 5764, Vol. 56, No. 20
Jews prep for fence hearing
RACHEL POMERANCE
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
NEW YORK - When the International Court of Justice holds hearings on Israel's West Bank security fence later this month, it could become a repeat performance of Durban, Jewish activists fear.
The anti-Zionist agitation at Durban's U.N. World Conference Against Racism in Sept. 2001 was so frenzied that Israel and the United States stalked out of the conference - and it shocked a Jewish world horrified by the virulence of the anti-Semitism on display.
In the end, Europe negotiated a compromise government resolution condemning anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. But a companion meeting of non-governmental organizations blasted Israel with a resolution damning the Jewish state for alleged apartheid, genocide and ethnic cleansing.
The U.N. General Assembly passed a resolution asking the International Court of Justice at The Hague to issue an advisory opinion on Israel's West Bank security fence. The court will convene hearings on Feb. 23.
Some Jewish activists fear the worst.
"We expect this to be like Durban - except worse," said Amy Goldstein, director of U.N. affairs for B'nai B'rith International.
The court's opinion is non-binding. At stake, however, is the politicization of the international court, the possibility that countries will use a negative decision as grounds to sanction Israel and the fear that a court decision will prejudge a negotiated Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement, Jewish officials say.
With that in mind, Jewish activists are gearing up for the hearings. Among the planned activities:
- Jewish groups like B'nai B'rith and Israeli officials plan to hold press conferences at The Hague to counter expected polemics.
- Zaka - the Israeli emergency services group that gives first-aid to victims of terrorism and gathers their body parts for Jewish burial - may bring the shell of a bombed-out bus to The Hague.
- The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations is due to meet Feb. 5 with a group of legal experts to craft pro-Israel strategies in response to the hearing and ruling.
- Amcha Coalition for Jewish Concerns plans to set up its own court outside The Hague and at the United Nations, mocking the ICJ proceedings as a sham, said Amcha's vice president, Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld.
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