Dhaene (PSE). – (NL) Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the international protest against the anti-terrorist, or dividing, wall is starting to bear fruit. It appears that Israel will be shortening the wall, or partition, so that it does not cut as much into Palestinian territory. In that way, Mr Sharon is trying to turn the international tide that is opposed to his policy, but he will try to use the dismantling of the colonies in Gaza as compensation for the colonies within the wall on the West Bank. In that way, he can retain the largest settlements there after all and abandon the problematic Gaza Strip. He will thus once again foster goodwill in Washington and can quietly carry on with the annexation of the Palestinian territory, even though he thereby undermines the roadmap and makes his own plan the only viable one. He does not recognise the Green Line. This is unacceptable to the United Nations and, as Kofi Annan stated in November, this is very counterproductive for peace.

Europe, too, should find this unacceptable, and I regret the Council’s attitude. A viable Palestinian state needs the agricultural land and the water sources, which are now being closed off. We must therefore maintain our international protest against the wall. Besides, Israel has the right to look for protection against terrorism behind the Green Line, but a new iron curtain will provide no answers in the long run. Where I come from, anyone who builds a wall has to build it on their own land; if not, the neighbour will call in the justice of the peace. This will shortly also happen in The Hague, where the International Court of Justice will rule on this wall’s legitimacy. Mr Sharon is now trying to create a smoke screen to mislead the world and make people forget the Geneva peace initiative. The question is now whether the International Court of Justice can act as justice of the peace in this case. In any event, the problem has now attracted much attention worldwide, and international pressure is being brought to bear – even in Israel, where the Supreme Court is now looking into the case. I hope that they will take the right decision.