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July 16, 2004
Urgent Action Necessary
Israel’s right to protect herself from terrorists that would
infiltrate and harm innocent civilians has been challenged by the
International Court of Justice and is now being carried a step
further. The Palestinians are circulating a resolution in the UN
General Assembly that calls upon Israel to dismantle the fence and
award damages and reparations to the Palestinians affected by the
fence. Since this proposal may come to a vote at the UN early next
week, it is urgent that you contact Secretary General Kofi Annan
immediately at the United Nations by sending him a letter that
urges him to do all in his power to discourage support for the
advisory opinion or any UN resolutions or initiatives that result
from it. Below is a sample letter that you may choose to use or
adapt in your correspondence with the Secretary General. It is
urgent that this be done immediately. The fax number for
Secretary General Kofi Annan is 212-963-4879 and the email address
is sg@un.org.
Sample Letter
July, 2004
Honorable Kofi Annan
Office of the Secretary General
United Nations Secretariat
One Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, 885 Second Ave
New York, NY 10017
Dear Secretary General Kofi Annan,
I am writing regarding the recent deplorable advisory opinion
rendered by the International Court of Justice concerning Israel’s
security fence. I believe that the International Court of Justice
should not have agreed to review the question in the first place
and should have declined to address it. The ICJ should not have
been a party to yet another attempt by enemies of Israel to
undermine the peace process by circumventing direct negotiations
through UN resolutions and opinions. In spite of the fact that the
General Assembly requested the Court’s opinion on the issue, it
must be noted that less than half of the UN member states voted
for the resolution and its most prominent democratic member states
opposed taking the case to the Court. Among the few members who
actually participated in the ICJ hearing last February were the
most flagrant violators of human rights.
Israel has been subjected to an unrelenting campaign of terror by
the Palestinians since September of 2000. It is a proven fact that
the fence has already saved hundreds of lives and prevented dozens
of terrorist attacks. It is appalling that the ICJ’s advisory
opinion willfully ignores this brutal campaign of terror, the very
reason for building the fence in the first place. As long as the
terrorism continues, Israel will have no choice but to defend its
citizens as it is morally and legally obligated to do.
Mr. Secretary General, I urge you to do all in your power to
discourage support for this opinion or any UN resolutions or
initiatives that may emanate from it. The only way to resolve the
differences between Israel and the Palestinians, including any
dispute over the security fence, is through direct negotiations as
stipulated by UN Security Council Resolutions, and not through the
misuse of the ICJ.
Sincerely,
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