http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1087959719530&p=1078397702269 Israel prepares for Hague fence ruling

By Lee Landor 
June 24, 2004
The Jerusalem Post
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The court, which held hearings in February, is expected to make a ruling in about a month, he said. 
Israel fears that the International Court of Justice in The Hague will rule against the legality of the security fence because international law is inadequate in adjusting to the changing realities of combating terrorism, Alan Baker, the Foreign Ministry's legal adviser and next ambassador to Canada, told a symposium this week at the Israel Bar Association in Jerusalem. 
The court, which held hearings in February, is expected to make a ruling in about a month, he said. 
International law has not been updated since World War II, so states facing suicide bombings are experimenting with possible solutions within the framework of international law in order to try to cope with this terrorism. Israel, which is at the forefront of the fight against terrorism, is being condemned for such experimentation, regardless of its nonviolent and temporary nature, such as with the fence, according to Baker. Rather than dealing with perpetrators of terrorism, the international community is focusing on technical violations of the law, he said. 
Everybody condemns what Israel does while giving lip service to its right of self-defense, he said, adding that the ICJ believes Israel to be over-interpreting the borders of international law. 
Israel is being accused of apartheid, war crimes, and violating human rights because its need to build the security fence, which might cause delays and inconveniences to Palestinians, but it is a temporary and nonviolent means of dealing with terrorism, said Baker. 
International law is inadequate, he said, and apparently so is the ICJ in dealing with the issue of the security fence. According to Baker, due to its lack of an Israeli judge and ability to easily succumb to manipulation by Palestinians and the UN General Assembly, the ICJ is not fit to deal with this matter. 
The European Union occasionally takes things out of context and applies them incorrectly to Israel's situation with the fence and settlements, among other things, said Ruth Lapidot, professor of law at the Hebrew University and legal adviser to the Foreign Ministry from 1979 to 1981. 
The symposium was held by the Israel Bar Association in Jerusalem and B'nai B'rith World Center. It included Dr. Haim Katz, Chairman of the B'nai B'rith World Center Diplomatic and Economic Forum; Naor Yerushalmi, Chairman of the B'nai B'rith World Center; speaker Ruth Lapidot, professor of law at the Hebrew University and legal adviser to the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1979 to 1981; and guest speaker Richard D. Heideman, Esquire Senior Counsel of Heideman Lezell Nudelman & Kalik law firm in Washington D.C.