by Marc Carnegie
UNITED NATIONS, July 20 (AFP) - The Palestinians won strong international support here Tuesday as the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly backed a World Court ruling calling on Israel to tear down part of its West Bank barrier.
The resolution, which packs more symbolic than practical weight, demanded that Israel obey the decision of the UN's International Court of Justice -- which the Jewish state has already said it will ignore.
The measure passed 150-6 with 10 abstentions, setting the stage for what the Palestinians vow will be a pressure campaign that could lead to seeking sanctions against Israel if it does not comply.
Israel says the uncompleted 425-mile (700-kilometre) barrier of concrete and barbed wire has cut Palestinian terror attacks by 90 percent, and has rejected accusations that sections built on West Bank territory amount to a land grab.
"Thank God that the fate of Israel and of the Jewish people is not decided in this hall," Israeli ambassador Dan Gillerman said after the vote.
But Palestinian representative Nasser al-Kidwa said it "could be the most important resolution of the General Assembly since the adoption of Resolution 181 of 1947," which split Palestine into Jewish and Arab lands.
"It's time now, we believe, for implementation, for compliance and at a later stage for additional measures" if Israel does not obey, Kidwa said.
Assembly resolutions have no legal force but represent the majority of world opinion, and the Palestinians scored a victory in getting the European Union to unite behind the measure.
Israel and its closest ally, the United States, voted against, along with Australia, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau.
Cameroon, Canada, El Salvador, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Uganda, Uruguay and Vanuatu abstained.
US deputy ambassador James Cunningham said the resolution was unbalanced and harmful to the Middle East peace process, which he said should centre on the internationally backed "road map" peace plan.
The Palestinians have said that if Israel does not comply, they will push for a legally binding resolution at the UN Security Council, something all but certain to be vetoed by Washington.
With the UN court based at The Hague, and the Netherlands current holders of the EU presidency, diplomats said there was pressure to forge a common position among the 25-nation Brussels bloc.
Capping days of intense negotiations, EU and Arab diplomats hammered out a resolution that took on several EU-proposed changes, including a call for both Israel and Palestinian to adhere to the "road map" plan.
The revised text also condemned terror attacks and underlined the right to self-defence, but only in what Gillerman dismissed as "grudging references" that did not address Israel's concerns.
"This resolution cannot but embolden those who are the true enemies of the Israeli and Palestinian people," he said.
Israel has repeatedly complained about its treatment by the General Assembly, which regularly passes resolutions criticising the Jewish state.
In December, the assembly asked the court for a ruling on the barrier.
The tribunal, the UN's highest court, said on July 9 that Israel should tear down the sections on West Bank land and pay the Palestinians reparations for damages caused.