UN assembly tells Israel to tear down barrier

The UN General Assembly demanded Israel obey a World Court ruling and tear down its West Bank barrier, with European nations contributing to an overwhelming favourable vote on Tuesday.
The result was 150 to 6 with 10 abstentions on the resolution aimed at dismantling the 370-mile (600-km) barrier that Israel says is needed to keep out suicide bombers but Palestinians see as a land-grab aimed at dashing their hopes for eventual statehood.
Voting "no" were the United States, Israel and Australia and the Pacific island states of Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau. Abstaining were Canada, Cameroon, El Salvador, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Uganda, Uruguay and Vanuatu.
All 25 European Union countries voted in support of the Palestinian-drafted measure after its Arab sponsors accepted a series of EU modifications over days of intense negotiations.
The assembly resolution, like the court ruling, is not legally binding but carries symbolic weight and could lead to future measures.
Palestinian UN observer Nasser al-Kidwa praised the vote as "a historic development," adding "It is time now, we believe for implementation, for compliance, and at a later stage, for additional measures."
Kidwa told Reuters later member states should consider some bans against Israelis, such as Jewish settlers in the West Bank and Gaza not eligible for visas abroad and companies involved in building the wall could be put under sanctions.
James Cunningham, the US deputy ambassador, said the resolution was unbalanced and could undermine the goal of a Middle East in which Israeli and Palestinian states lived side by side in peace.
"Thank God that the fate of Israel and of the Jewish people is not decided in this hall," Israeli Ambassador Dan Gillerman said after the vote. "When all is said and done, it is simply outrageous to respond with such vigor to a measure that saves lives and respond with such casual indifference and apathy to a Palestinian campaign that takes lives."
The General Assembly acted after the World Court ruled in a July 9 "advisory opinion" that the barrier, which is still under construction, was illegal because it cut deep into West Bank land to shield settlements built by Israel on territory it seized in the 1967 Middle East War.
The court, formally known as the International Court of Justice and based in The Hague, is the top UN legal body.
The resolution demanded that Israel comply with the court finding that it was legally obliged to dismantle the barrier and pay reparations for damages caused during construction.