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The Supreme Court: The new barrier in Bil'in violates the Court ruling
août 3, 2008
Source : AATW List
by Nir
Following a two-hour hearing in front of Judges Beinish, Prokachya and Rivlin, the High Court of Justice concluded today that the new route of the barrier in Bil’in is in violation of the Court ruling released on September 2007. The Court ordered the State to present within 45 days a new route, which will uphold the principles of the ruling, and to allow the plaintiffs and the other sides to respond on the new route within 21 days afterwards. Another hearing will take place shortly afterwards.
Throughout the hearing, the Judges passes harsh criticism on the State, which claimed that the Court ruling ordered that the State must "consider" a new route, but didn’t oblige the authorities to actually change the route. Judge Dorith Beinish, President of the Supreme Court, concluded that the State’s interpretation of the ruling is "impossible". Thus, the Court ruling said that the lands for phase B of the plan for the Matityahu East neighborhood must remain on the Palestinian side of the barrier, but the new route leaves all these lands on the Israeli side. Judge Prokachya concluded that leaving all the lands of phase B on the Israeli side of the barrier constitutes "a direct extreme violation of the Court ruling".
In an even more important saying, Judge Beinish said that the fact that some of the new neighborhoods of the settlement of Modi’in Illit (Neot Ha-Pisga and phase A of Matityahu East) have approved planning schemes doesn’t mean that the authorities should allow construction to reach the boundaries of the approved plans. According to Beinish, in the ruling "we said that taking into consideration those who already live there and those who are about to enter the houses is fine". In contrast, new construction, that can lead to a situation whereby the new houses are a few meters away from a route of the barrier that upholds the Court ruling, should be avoided, since this will not allow the ruling to be realized. According to Beinish, "there is the problem that the construction is advancing. The settlement [Modi’in Illit] should take into consideration security issues" while approving new construction, even if this is done under approved planning schemes. When new construction jeopardizes the chances to realizing the ruling, such a construction must be avoided.
