EDITORIAL
The UN and the Israeli wall
There's attitude. Then there is action. The
two aren't always connected. That's one lesson from the United
Nations General Assembly's 150-6 vote to demand Israel remove
its wall from the West Bank. The UN vote seconds an earlier
World Court decision calling the wall "in breach of
international law" and a "de facto annexation." The
20-foot-high concrete and steel blocks, barbed wire and
trenches separate Pales tinians from their jobs, their
families, their hospitals and even their ancestors' graves.
But the General Assembly vote expres ses only an attitude--a
non-binding mandate. And it also shows again how the very
structure of the United Nations guarantees U.S. imperialism's
ability to dictate its terms to the world. Because for the UN
to take action, a Security Council decision is needed--and
there the U.S. veto has always prevented any sanctions against
the Israeli state. Despite the almost universal hatred of this
"Apart heid Wall," the U.S. representative was one of the six
to vote against the resolution condemning it, along with
Israel, Australia, the Marshall Islands, Micro nesia and Palau.
Japan and all the West European imperialist powers voted for
it.
Once more the Bush administration has demonstrated its utter
hostility to the struggle for Palestinian self-determination
and its contempt for the Arab people who--with good
reason--denounce the Israeli state as a criminal intruder on a
never-ending land grab. The U.S. ruling class is in agreement
on this policy, as John Kerry's support for the Israeli wall
demonstrates.
The Free Palestine Alliance, a member organization of the
ANSWER steering committee, has announced a series of three sets
of two-day actions to protest the wall. The group plans to set
up tents in public spaces and hold hunger strikes on July
24-25, on the eve of the Demo cra tic National Convention; on
Aug. 28-29, leading up to the Republican Nat ional Convention;
and on Jan. 19-20, 2005, leading up to the presidential
inauguration.
To turn attitude to action, join these protests.
Reprinted from the July 29, 2004, issue of
Workers World newspaper
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