TEL AVIV - The Palestinian Authority has prepared an international case to gather support against Israeli building in the West Bank
and Gaza Strip,
and against the completion of the West Bank security fence, London-based Arabic language newspaper al-Quds al-Arabi reported Thursday.
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According to the plan, the PA is planning to turn to the U.N. Security Council and the International Court of Justice at The Hague in order to force Israel to stop building in West Bank settlements, particularly in the Jerusalem area.
Last year, The Hague issued a non-binding decision denouncing the fence's "devastating impact" and "destruction of Palestinian land" and called on Israel to halt construction.
The current plan calls for an international campaign to achieve a similar result vis-a-vis Israeli settlements, which the Palestinians regard as illegal.
"Insane" plan
Ahmed Majdalani, a Palestinian minister without portfolio who heads the Committee for Separation Fence Affairs, has confirmed that the Palestinians are planning an international campaign. He said the Palestinian leadership is committed to international decisions that regard “Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine”.
According to Majdalani, the plan was presented to the Palestinian Legislative Council last week. He added that “Israel has an insane plan to Judaize Jerusalem, to expropriate land to build settlements, and to cut them off from the West Bank with the security fence.
“We say that if he (Prime Minister Ariel Sharon) wants to pull out of the Gaza Strip and make peace with the Palestinian people, he must not gamble the withdrawal by seizing Palestinian land and building settlements in the West Bank,” Majdalani said.
Not one grain of sand
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia (Abu Ala)
reiterated the Palestinian position that all settlements and the security fence are illegal.
He then called on the international community to take steps in order to bring the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to an end, to end the occupation, and to establish a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as the capital.
He added that the land issue is fundamental, and that the Palestinians are not willing to forfeit one grain of sand.
“This is the Palestinian approach to peace,” he said.
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