The Arab Group at the United Nations on Monday called for an emergency UN General Assembly session on a resolution demanding Israel's compliance with last Friday's ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The ICJ issued a non-binding ruling that Israel's so-called "security barrier" under construction on the West Bank violates international law because it infringes on Palestinians' general freedom of movement, employment, education and health.

Even though the ruling is an advisory opinion, the international tribunal for the first time spoke of Israel's legal obligations to stop construction and dismantle the barrier in order to bring an end to the situation, and to provide reparations to Palestinians who have suffered losses due to the wall's construction.

It is heartening to see the law has refused to be a silent bystander and is forcefully reminding Israel that it is an occupying power in the West Bank.

The advisory opinion of the ICJ on the legal consequences of the barrier - a 685-kilometre, partially-built complex of high concrete walls, razor-wire fences, trenches and watch towers - provides an opportunity to correct the imbalance of power between Israel and the Palestinian people in the land Israel occupies.

Israel argued the wall was erected purely as a temporary measure to protect Israelis against suicide bombers and other attacks.

But building a barrier is not the answer to mending a fence.

Even if Israel has the right to build barriers against the scourge of suicide bombers, when looking at the entire project it is difficult to accept Israel's contention that the barrier's route was based purely on security considerations.

It winds in and around Jewish settlements deep in Palestinian territory until its total length reaches twice the length of the "green line" established as the border after the 1967 war. It surrounds some Palestinian villages and cuts a broad swath on land expropriated from Palestinians, causing unjustified hardship to some 35,000 residents penned into isolated enclaves and cut off from agricultural land, medical care, schools and universities.

Overall, the international court declared that 875,000 Palestinians, almost 40 percent of the West Bank population, would be directly affected by the barrier.

Rather than bringing the durable security Israel yearns for, construction of the wall can only worsen the already inflamed relations between Israel and Palestine by creating more distrust on both sides.

The bomb attack in Tel Aviv on Sunday highlights the futility of the wall, which was even condemned by Israel's supreme court last month.

The fundamental causes of the Israel-Palestine conflict are disputes over territory and religion, which can only be solved through political negotiations.

Israel's security can only be ensured by pursuing peace, not by building barricades.

(China Daily July 14, 2004)