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July 22, 2004
To: Officers, Rabbis, Key Contacts
From: Richard B. Stone, Chairman
Betty Ehrenberg, Director, International and Communal Affairs
Re: Response to UN
Resolution on ICJ – Support S.Res.408
On Tuesday, July 20th, 2004, the UN General Assembly
overwhelmingly adopted a resolution supporting the advisory
opinion of the International Court of Justice that Israel’s
security fence beyond the 1949 armistice plan (pre-1967 borders)
violates international law, and should be dismantled, with
compensation to Palestinians affected by the fence’s structure.
Israel had hoped that those states that voted last December
against sending the issue to the ICJ, or abstained, would do so
again, especially the European states. That was not the case.
Recognizing that a U.S. veto will be cast should the resolution
come to the Security Council, it is expected that the Palestinians
will bring the issue back to the GA in September, arguing Israeli
non-compliance with the ICJ opinion and GA resolution. Their
strategy is to cast Israel in the role of a pariah state in ways
that will lead the international community to impose diplomatic
and/or economic sanctions and, later, greater pressure on the
Security Council to act.
We are urging all our members to write to the
UN ambassadors of the EU to express outrage over the General
Assembly vote. The list of addresses is attached below. If you
have personal business or academic contacts in high places in
these countries, please call on them to communicate with their
leadership as well. Information and talking points that you may
wish to use in your correspondence can be found at
www.conferenceofpresidents.org/fence.html.
Immediate Action Necessary
A bipartisan resolution was introduced in the Senate on Wednesday,
July 21 addressing the ICJ advisory opinion on the fence. The
resolution, S.Res.408, supports the construction by Israel of the
security fence to prevent Palestinians terrorist attacks, condemns
the decision of the ICJ on the legality of the security fence and
urges no further action by the UN to delay or prevent construction
of the security fence.
S.Res.408 was introduced by Senators Gordon
Smith (R-OR), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Jim Bunning (R-KY), Saxby
Chambliss (R-GA), Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Norman Coleman (R-MN),
Susan Collins (R-ME), John Corzine (D-NJ), Michael Crapo (R-ID),
Elizabeth Dole (R-NC), Peter Fitzgerald (R-IL), Joseph Lieberman
(D-CT), Richard Lugar (R-IN), Patty Murray (D-WA), Charles Schumer
(D-NY), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).
Please contact your Senators today and urge them to co-sponsor and
pass S.R.408 before the Senate adjourns at the end of the week for
the summer. Senators can be reached at 202-224-3121.
S.R.408 resolves that the Senate:
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Recognizes Israel’s right to self-defense
against Palestinian terrorist attacks, and supports the
construction of the security fence, the route of which, with the
support of the government of Israel, takes into account the
needs of the Palestinians involved;
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Condemns the decision of the ICJ on the
legality of the security fence, and
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Urges the United States to vote against any
further UN action that could delay or prevent the construction
of the security fence and to engage in a diplomatic campaign to
persuade other countries to do the same.
Please contact Senators immediately at
202-224-3121 and urge them to co-sponsor and pass S.R.408.
RBS
BE
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