<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[Occupied Palestine | فلسطين]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[occupiedpalestine]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/author/hajarhajar/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[Court rejects Palestinian bid on Jerusalem&nbsp;barrier]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<blockquote><p><strong>&#8220;In a non-binding 2004 judgment, the International Court of Justice called for the dismantling of all parts of the separation barrier built on occupied territory.&#8221;</strong></p></blockquote>
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<p><img src="https://i2.wp.com/www.maannews.net/images/345x230/142040_345x230.jpg"></p>
<p>Maan News Agency | Aug 23, 2011</p>
<p>JERUSALEM (AFP) &#8212; An Israeli rights group criticized Tuesday a court decision upholding the route of Israel&#8217;s West Bank barrier, which cuts off a Palestinian village from its land in an area between Jerusalem and Bethlehem.</p>
<p>Residents of Al-Walaja had appealed to Israel&#8217;s Supreme Court to reroute a portion of the barrier which they say cuts off the village of 2,500 from farming land, a cemetery and a nearby spring.</p>
<p>The village straddles the border between East Jerusalem and the West Bank, with a third of its land falling within the Israeli-annexed sector.</p>
<p>But Israel&#8217;s Supreme Court rejected the petition Monday, saying security concerns outweighed the disturbance to their lives.</p>
<p>Ir Amim, an NGO which lobbies for Palestinians and Israelis to share Jerusalem, said the villagers had been placed in an impossible situation by Israel.</p>
<p>&#8220;The court verdict does not address the question of Walaja because Israel is condemned to rule Walaja unwisely and unfairly,&#8221; said Daniel Seidemann, a founder of Ir Amim.</p>
<p>&#8220;We have no business ruling it in the first place,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We do not provide them services, do not allow them access to the West Bank, do not allow them access to Israel.&#8221;</p>
<p>Chief Justice Dorit Beinish wrote in her decision the barrier in Walaja was &#8220;one of the last sections&#8221; around Jerusalem that still needed completion.</p>
<p>&#8220;The geographical proximity between these territories and the Jerusalem municipal area has over the years transformed it into a preferred target destination for terrorists operating in the area who wish to infiltrate the city limits,&#8221; she wrote.</p>
<p>Moving the barrier could also pose a potential threat to passengers on the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem railway, which runs nearby, she said.</p>
<p>Israel says the barrier is designed to prevent attacks, but the Palestinians view it as an &#8220;apartheid wall&#8221; that carves off key parts of their promised state.</p>
<p>When the 709-kilometer barrier is complete, 85 percent of it will have been built inside the occupied West Bank.</p>
<p>In a non-binding 2004 judgment, the International Court of Justice called for the dismantling of all parts of the separation barrier built on occupied territory.<br />
<a href="http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=415623">Source</a></p>
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