From the Guardian
Unlimited (UK)
Dated Saturday July 10
Barrier ruling shifts the debate
Palestinian groups want ruling to increase international pressure on Israel
By Chris McGreal in Jerusalem
If the Palestinians have their way, historians will look back on yesterday's court ruling against the vast West Bank barrier as the decision that mobilised the world to end Israeli occupation.
The ruling by the international court of justice in The Hague is non-binding, and has already been rejected by Israel as politicised and one-sided.
But Palestinian lawyers heralded yesterday's victory as a milestone. They have in mind the path trod three decades ago, after the same court ruled that South Africa was illegally occupying Namibia. That set in motion votes in the UN general assembly and security council that established international sanctions against the apartheid regime, which evolved into a popular global boycott of South African goods and sport, contributing to the long-term collapse of white rule.
Yesterday, the world court called on the UN general assembly and security council to press Israel to comply with the ruling, and on signatories to the Geneva conventions, including the US and Britain, to meet their legal requirement to ensure the Jewish state respects international law.
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