the farce in the hague

ChronWatch - Feb 26, 2004
The Farce in the Hague
By Cinnamon Stillwell


The farce currently playing out in the Hague, where the so-called International Criminal Court of Justice is deliberating over the legality of Israel’s security fence, was laid bare by the suicide bombing in Jerusalem on Sunday, Feb. 22. A member of the Al Aksa Martyrs Brigade, an integral part of Yassir Arafat’s Fatah faction, killed eight people and wounded more than 50 aboard a Jerusalem bus.

Demonstrating the duplicity for which he’s famous, Arafat publicly condemned an attack that he himself was responsible for. And only one day after this atrocity, he and his henchmen--enlisting the help of sympathetic leftists from Israel and beyond--launched a ''Day of Rage'' to protest the building of the security barrier.

Adding insult to injury, all of this took place against a backdrop of Israeli concessions. The Israeli Defense Forces had announced on Saturday, Feb. 21, that workers would start dismantling a five-mile section of the fence, which the Palestinians claimed was separating their communities. As always, Palestinian leadership dismissed the gesture, insisting on the dismantling of the entire fence or nothing at all.

This whole turn of events would be astounding were it not so predictable by now. Over the years, the players in this song and dance have not altered, nor have their transparent motivations.

The International Criminal Court of Justice (ICJ) is an arm of the U.N. General Assembly, which has proven itself to be unequivocally anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian. Indeed, Secretary-General Annan's report to the ICJ did not describe a single terrorist act against Israelis, but instead painted a picture of blameless Palestinians suffering under human rights abuses. Even more outrageously, relatives of Israeli terrorism victims were not allowed to take part in the proceedings. But the hollow shell of the number 19 Egged bus, which was destroyed along with its passengers in a suicide bombing a month ago in Jerusalem, sat across the street from the court, a stark reminder of the missing voice in the equation.

The meaningless hearings were attended by such human rights defenders as Sierra Leone, China, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, and Cuba, all of whom argued against the Israelis’ right to defend themselves. The United States, the European Union, Canada, Russia, Australia, and Israel, knowing that the odds were stacked against justice, opted out of the proceedings altogether.

In the end, whatever credibility this body still holds will rest on its decision. Will the ICJ and by extension the UN, continue to act as a tool of dictatorships and terrorist states, or will it start supporting the democracies, such as Israel and America, that are clearly under attack? If it persists in pushing its current agenda, the ''international community's'' obsolescence, when it comes to facing the greatest threat of our time, will become ever more apparent.

As for the fate of the security fence itself, it lies in the hands of the Palestinians. Every time another suicide bombing takes place in Israel, the argument for the barrier is made clear. In fact, it is only where the fence has not yet been fully constructed that terrorists are still able to slip through. When the Palestinians stop trying to kill Jews and conquer the state of Israel, then the fence will no longer be needed. In the meantime, Israel has every right to protect itself from the barbarians at its gates.