We have heard that the Senate may rush the vote on a resolution introduced by Sen. Gordon Smith last July and now sponsored by 43 senators which condemns the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for advising the United Nations that the Israeli-built "Separation Wall" was illegal and should be torn down.

Please call your senators TODAY OR NO LATER THAN MONDAY (their telephone numbers are available on (www.congress.org) to express your views on Senate Resolution 408. Tell them that the ICJ advisory opinion does NOT prevent Israel from defending itself as long as it builds a wall on its own land, but DOES strike an important blow for human rights and international law. Moreover, the Israeli High Court has recently ruled that the wall is violating Palestinian human rights and must be redirected. Urge your senators to withdraw their sponsorship of the resolution or vote against it. It is important for you to place these calls because tallies are always kept and our collective must must be heard.

If you belong to a local activist organization that wishes to endorse the US Campaign's general petition (see below), contact them at http://www.endtheoccupation.org/petition.php?pid=5  and sign on.

Here's the background:

On July 9 the ICJ ruled that the wall Israel is building in the Palestinian West Bank is "contrary to international law" and that Israel must cease its construction, dismantle it, and pay reparations to those damaged by it.

Members of Congress who support Israel's military occupation responded by introducing legislation condemning the ICJ ruling and backing Israel's illegal wall. The House quickly passed a resolution to this effect in July but a sizable number of Members voted against it or abstained, partly as a result of your efforts. In August, CNI and other members of the Washington Wednesday group called on the offices of those congress members to thank them for their vote.

A similar resolution -- Senate Res. 408 -- was introduced in the Senate July 20 but until now has not been voted upon.

On September 9, the US Campaign to End the Occupation (of which CNI is a member) delivered a petition to each senator signed by 135 organizations urging senators not to support Senate Resolution 408.