(New York Times) - The UN General Assembly approved a nonbinding resolution on Monday asking the International Court of Justice to rule on the legality of the barrier that Israel is building in the West Bank. The vote was 90 in favor and 8 opposed, with 74 abstaining. The World Court is not obligated to issue an opinion. The U.S., which voted against the resolution, vetoed a similar Security Council resolution in October. James Cunningham, the deputy U.S. representative, denounced the resolution as "one-sided and completely unbalanced," adding, "It doesn't even mention the word terrorism." "This is the fence that Arafat built. His terrorism initiated it and made its construction inevitable," declared Dan Gillerman, the Israeli ambassador. "While the rights of local residents are legitimate and important, we should not forget that the right not to be murdered by terrorists is a right which is certainly no less important and, if violated, is impossible to redress," he said.
2003-12-09 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive