Israeli and Palestinian newspapers splashed the world court hearing on Israel’s West Bank barrier across their front pages on Tuesday, with predictably radically different takes on the legal and public relations battle.
The Israeli newspapers underscored the simultaneous opening of hearings at the United Nations International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague on the legality of what the Palestinians call the ”apartheid wall”, and the pro-Israel demonstrations outside the court ”against terrorism”.
”Occupation discussed in the court, while demonstrators protested terror outside,” read the headline of Haaretz‘s Hebrew edition.
Maariv‘s front page featured a picture of demonstrators carrying photos of 935 victims of suicide bombings, captioned: ”935 defence attorneys”.
The mass-circulation paper said that Israel ”succeeded this time in conveying its message to the world over”.
For the mass-circulation newspaper Yediot Aharanot, the ”score” of the opening day of the three-day hearings was more nuanced.
”Knockout inside the court, draw outside”, its headline read, referring to pro-Palestinian street demonstrations.
An editorial argued that the Israeli campaign against terrorism cannot succeed because it does not respond to the main objection against the construction of the barrier, ”which juts deeply into areas of the West Bank”.
One of its leading columnists, Nahum Barnea, praised the Palestinian legal team’s performance as ”eloquent, well-argued, brilliant”. He described The Hague hearings as the first ”serious international attempt to restrict [Israel’s] freedom of action in the territories” since it occupied the West Bank and Gaza after the 1967 Six-Day War and noted ”demonstrations are doomed to be forgotten. As to the court hearing, that is not so sure.”
The paper also carried a short interview with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in which he mocked the court hearings and vowed to complete the barrier’s construction, regardless of its opinion.
Sharon criticised the ”campaign of hypocrisy currently being staged against Israel in the international circus in The Hague”.
”What is in motion at The Hague is an attempt to deny Israel the fundamental right to defend itself. We will not surrender. I will build the security fence and will complete it, as the Cabinet decided,” he was quoted as saying.
Israel is boycotting the hearings, arguing that the court lacks authority to rule on the issue.
Palestinian dailies dedicated most of their front pages to the hearings, with the pro-government Al-Hayat Al-Jadida describing them as an ”historic trial of the wall, of the occupation and colonisation”.
”One should not minimise the importance of the court, even if its decision will not be binding,” it said.
It reminded its readers that in 1971 ”the ICJ declared illegal South Africa’s occupation of neighbouring Namibia. That ruling, which led to sanctions against South Africa, was also advisory and the country’s racist government at the time opposed the ICJ opinion, arguing it was not competent to rule in this matter.
”In 1990, Namibia became independent.”
But the paper cautioned that ”one should not expect, once the court rules, that UN bulldozers will roll into the West Bank and destroy the wall”.
Another Palestinian newspaper, Al-Ayyam, quoted the head of the Palestinian legal team at the hearing, Nasser al-Qidwa, as saying Palestinians had ”crushed the Israelis, whether it be before the court or in our media activities in the city of The Hague”. — Sapa-AFP