Erekat: Time to reverse damage caused by wall, 6 years after International Court of Justice said it was illegal

Ma'an - Chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat said “It is time for the international community to assist in reversing the damage caused by the Wall and its regime,” as he marked the sixth anniversary of an advisory opinion on the wall's illegality on Friday.

The International Court of Justice opinion issued six years ago held that Israel "cannot oppress the rights of Palestinian people in order to satisfy its own interests," Erekat said in a statement.

The verdict called on Israel to dismantle the wall and to compensate Palestinians affected by its construction. "However, Israel continues to act as a state above the law and the Wall continues to harm the lives of Palestinians."

"We are witnessing colonization in the 21st century with Israel’s settlement enterprise in the occupied Palestinian territory, and the wall is one of the ugliest manifestations of this grave violation of international law," the PLO official said, describing the wall as "a land grab disguised as a security measure" enabling the construction of settlements.

"Simply put, the Wall is an integral part of a regime intent on heading in the direction of apartheid," Erekat said.

The PLO official said the ICJ ruling highlighted "the obligations of third parties," and called on the international community to assist in the matter.

"At the very least, third parties are obligated not to contribute to the illegal settlement enterprise, where Israel profits off of the suffering of the Palestinian people and the exploitation of their resource," Erekat said, calling on the international community to "assume their responsibilities" by discouraging profiting from settlements.

"This is the least that is required to create the necessary conditions conducive for reaching a two-state solution."