Palestinian children walk over the concrete wall

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, June 30 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Israel's Supreme Court ordered the government Wednesday, June 30, to change a large section of its West Bank controversial separation wall, saying the current route violates the human rights of the Palestinian population.

The government said it would "honor the ruling", after the court insisted that the changes must be made, reported Reuters.

The court decision — the first major ruling on the controversial barrier — is expected to affect other sections of the contentious separation wall.

It signaled the court would reject other parts of the barrier that separate Palestinians from their lands, cut villages off from each other or prevent people from reaching population centers, Reuters said.

According to a report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) with the competition of the wall, 30 percent of the West Bank population, or some 680,000 people, will be "directly harmed."

The wall has resulted in the confiscation of 11,4000 dunums (2,850 acres - 1,140 hectares) of privately-owned Palestinian land and in the destruction of 102,320 trees.

Violating Human Rights

A general view shows the controversial Israeli wall

"Only a separation route based on the path of law will lead the state to the security so yearned for," the court said in its ruling.

"The route ... injures the local inhabitants in a severe and acute way while violating their rights under humanitarian and international law."

The ruling said the route had "severely violated the local population's freedom of movement and severely impaired their livelihood".

It described the villages as being in a "virtual chokehold."

The court forced the government to return land that has been seized and compensate the Palestinians for their financial losses.

Israel claims the barrier is needed to prevent Palestinian bombers reaching Israeli towns and cities.

However, the Palestinian Authority fears the real aim is to dictate the borders of the future Palestinian state.

The complex of fences, concrete walls, trenches and razor wire has severely disrupted the lives of thousands of Palestinians by separating them from jobs, schools and farmland.

About a quarter of the 425-mile barrier, which dips deep into the West Bank, has been completed.

Israel's Defense Ministry — responsible for overseeing construction of the barrier — said it would re-route the disputed sections "based on the principles set by the Supreme Court, namely the proper balance between security and humanitarian considerations."

Wednesday's case focused on a 25-mile stretch of the barrier northwest of occupied Jerusalem, where 35,000 people live in eight villages.

The wall would separate the villagers from 7,500 acres, most of it cultivated, including tens of thousands of olive trees, fruit trees and other crops.

Important

"To have the chief justice of the Supreme Court say you can't put the Palestinians in prison ... in the name of the security of Israel, that is really important. That is the least I can say," said Mohammed Dahla, a lawyer for the petitioners.

"This ruling will have a major impact on the judicial fight against the racist wall and will influence the army's planning for its route," he told AFP.

"It is more important than the world court's decision because Israel has already made clear that it will not pay any heed to the advice of the ICJ."

The world court is due to issue a non-binding ruling on the wall's legality on July 9, but the Israeli government has already vowed to carry on with construction which is expected to be wrapped up by the end of 2005.

Dahla said the court had ordered changes in about 20 miles of the stretch, while the Israeli Radio said two miles of completed construction would also have to be dismantled.

Torn Down

From his part, Palestinian premier Ahmed Qorei said the entire separation wall should be torn down and not only have its path altered.

"It is not about changing the route or not," Qorei told reporters in the West Bank town of Ramallah.

"It's a wall, a separation wall which is being built on the Palestinian territories. It's a racist separation wall and therefore it should fall. There is no other alternative."

"The wall is an act of aggression whether it remains as is, or they introduce changes in its route. This wall should be knocked down as other walls in the world, like the Berlin Wall," Qorei said.

Last October, the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly passed a resolution, demanding Tel Aviv to "stop and reserve" the construction of its separation wall.

Another UN report underlined that the controversial barrier constitutes illegal annexation of Palestinian territory.

The defiant Israeli government of Ariel Sharon approved last October a new 100-million-dollar section of the controversial barrier.