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An Israeli soldier taking a photograph of a worker dismantling a section of the security fence near Baqa al Sharqiya, one day before the hearings on the legality of the security fence started at the International Court of Justice in The Hague
Photo: Ariel Schalit / MTI / AP, 2004.
Israeli soldiers disassemble a watchtower, which was part of the security fence system, near the Palestinian village of Zeita in the Tulkarem area, one day before the hearings on the legality of the security fence started at The International Court of Justice in The Hague
Photo: Alaa Badarneh / MTI / EPA, 2004.
Palestinians watching the removal of a gate, once part of the security fence near Baqa al Sharqiya, one day before the hearings on the legality of the security fence started at The International Court of Justice in The Hague
Photo: Jim Hollander / MTI / EPA, 2004.
In the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, it is clear that Israel has military superiority. The question of who has rhetorical superiority is still up for grabs, and both sides invest significant resources to represent the reality in a manner that suits their interests. In this climate, the facts are in fierce dispute, as both Israeli and Palestinian spokespeople manipulate information in order to support their rhetorical agenda.
Jessica Montell, B’Tselem, April 2004.
Workers dismantle parts of the security fence near Baqa al Sharqiya, one day before the hearings on the legality of the security fence started at The International Court of Justice in The Hague
Photo: Ariel Schalit / MTI / AP, 2004.
A central rhetorical battleground is the legal definition of the current situation. Israel defines the current situation as an armed conflict, i.e. war […] For Palestinians, it is a military occupation of a civilian population.
Again the reality is somewhere in between. While there are certainly incidents that reach the level of an armed conflict, the entire situation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip cannot be classified as a war. In many cases, soldiers are performing standard policing functions, such as they did during the Oslo process and the first intifada. The demonstrations against the separation barrier are a prime example of the IDF performing a policing function, though with apparently greater force.
At the same time, it is the case that there are also confrontations between armed Palestinians and Israeli soldiers - these cases must be acknowledged.
Jessica Montell, B’Tselem, April 2004.
The wreckage of an “Egged” bus blown up by a Palestinian suicide bomber in Jerusalem, displayed near the security fence in Abu Dis, near Jerusalem
Photo: Moshe Milner / Israeli National Photo Collection, 2004.
Peter TOMKA, the Slovakian member of the International Court of Justice, looking at the map of the Israeli security fence during the hearings on the legality of the security fence
Photo: Serge Ligtenberg / MTI / AP, 2004.
Wreckage of a bus that was blown up in Jerusalem by a Palestinian suicide bomber in January 2004, covered by posters condemning terrorist attacks; demonstrators displayed the wreckage in front of the building of The International Court of Justice in The Hague, the same day when the hearings on the legality of the security fence started |
Photo: Juan Vrijdag / MTI / EPA, 2004.
Kofi Annan’s letter to ICJ President / Report of the Secretary-General prepared pursuant to General Assembly resolution ES-10/13
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- Picture of the wall in Abu Dis as seen from within the wreckage an exploded Jerusalem bus. “On the day the International Court of Justice opened its session on Israel’s Separation Barrier, Israel placed a burned bus next to the Wall in Abu Dis. This was the latest - and most tangible - indication of the primacy of the symbolic war, the rhetorical war between Israel and the Palestinians.”
Caption: Jessica Montell, B’Tselem / Photo: Niv Hachlili, 2004.