ISRAELI VIOLATION: HISTORY & THEORY
Following the 1967 war and the establishment of its long-term occupation
of the West Bank and Gaza, the State of Israel soon began establishing
Israeli civilian settlements on expropriated Palestinian lands. These
settlements were repeatedly condemned by the international community as
illegal according to international law (see above for details).
But beyond just settling its own population on occupied foreign lands,
the government of Israel began legal steps to substantially link these
settlements to Israel itself. This not only involved a significant transformation
of local laws (itself illegal),
but actually created a de facto annexation of those areas of the occupied
Palestinian terroritories. Forbidding annexation of territories gained
by military conquest is one of the major principles of international law.
Even though this is only a de facto form of annexation (because it has
not been declared officially legally part of Israel), the International
Court of Justice, in paragraphs 121, 134 & 137 of its 2004 advisory
opinion concerning the security wall Israel is building throughout the
West Bank, ruled that de facto annexation significantly interferes with
the human rights and right of self-determination of the occupied people
(ICJ 2004).
The Israeli government has accomplished this de facto annexation in three
steps:
- The first stage was hidden in Israeli military orders in the occupied
territories because the orders simply said that the military commander
of the area was empowered to pass separate regulations governing these
settlements as he saw fit. These regulations, which are not available
to the public, then began building a separate legal system for the Israeli
civilians in these settlements;
- Then the Israeli government passed military orders establislhing separate
governing councils for these settlements;
- Finally the Israeli government began passing Israeli laws which listed
other Israeli laws which were now applicable in the Israeli settlements
on Palestinian lands (Shehadeh, 1992).
Thus the Israeli government has slowly extended its rule illegally to
illegal Israeli civilian settlements it has built on expropriated Palestinian
lands outside the internationally recognized borders of Israel which it
has occupied in an unusually prolonged occupation since 1967. This rule
is called "de facto annexation". |
ISRAELI VIOLATIONS OF INTERNATIONAL LAW
- Major Legal Principle Violated -
- Occupation Must Never Lead To Establishing Sovereignty over the
Occupied Lands of the Enemy People or Nation.
- Taking over Occupied Lands in this Way violates the Rights of
Self-Determination of the Native People.
- As Per International Law -
- UN Charter, article 2, para. 4 (1945) (full
text) (specific article - see below)
- Declaration On Principles Of International Law Concerning Friendly
Relations And Co-Operation Among States In Accordance With The Charter
Of The United Nations (1970), article 1 (full
text) (specific article - see below)
- Hague Regulations IV (1907), articles 43 & 55 (full
text) (specific articles - see below)
- Geneva Conventions IV (1949), article 54 (full
text) (specific articles - see below)
- Geneva Conventions (Protocol I) (1977), article 4 (full
text) (specific articles - see below)
- International Response -
- United Nations -
- International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion on the Legal
Status of the Israeli Wall Being Built in Palestine (2004),
paragraphs 121, 134 & 137 (full
text) (specific paragraphs - see below)
- International Miscellaneous response -
- Academic Analysis -
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RELEVANT QUOTES FROM TEXT
-
- UN Charter (1945),
article 2, para. 4:
Article 2. The Organization and its Members,
in pursuit of the Purposes stated in Article 1, shall act
in accordance with the following Principles.
- Paragraph 4. All Members shall refrain
in their international relations from the threat or use
of force against the territorial integrity or political
independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent
with the Purposes of the United Nations.
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- Declaration
On Principles Of International Law Concerning Friendly Relations
And Co-Operation Among States In Accordance With The Charter Of
The United Nations (1970), Principle 1:
| PRINCIPLE I: The principle that States
shall refrain in their international relations from the threat
or use of force against the territorial integrity or political
independence of any State, or in any other manner inconsistent
with the purposes of the United Nations. |
- Hague Regulations IV (1907), articles 43 & 55:
| Article 43. The authority of the legitimate
power having in fact passed into the hands of the occupant,
the latter shall take all the measures in his power to restore,
and ensure, as far as possible, public order and safety, while
respecting, unless absolutely prevented, the laws in force
in the country.
Article 55. The occupying State shall be regarded only as administrator and usufructuary of public buildings, real estate, forests, and agricultural estates belonging to the hostile State, and situated in the occupied country. It must safeguard the capital of these properties, and administer them in accordance with the rules of usufruct. |
- Geneva Conventions IV (1949), article 54:
| Article 54. The Occupying Power may not
alter the status of public officials or judges in the occupied
territories, or in any way apply sanctions to or take any
measures of coercion or discrimination against them, should
they abstain from fulfilling their functions for reasons of
conscience. |
- International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion on the Israeli
Wall Being Built in Palestine (2004), paragraphs 121 & 134:
| 121. Whilst the Court notes the assurance
given by Israel that the construction of the wall does not
amount to annexation and that the wall is of a temporary nature
(see paragraph 116 above), it nevertheless cannot remain indifferent
to certain fears expressed to it that the route of the wall
will prejudge the future frontier between Israel and Palestine,
and the fear that Israel may integrate the settlements and
their means of access. The Court considers that the construction
of the wall and its associated régime create a "fait accompli"
on the ground that could well become permanent, in which case,
and notwithstanding the formal characterization of the wall
by Israel, it would be tantamount to de facto annexation.
134. To sum up, the Court is of the opinion that the construction of the wall and its associated régime impede the liberty of movement of the inhabitants of the Occupied Palestinian Territory (with the exception of Israeli citizens and those assimilated thereto) as guaranteed under Article 12, paragraph 1, of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. They also impede the exercise by the persons concerned of the right to work, to health, to education and to an adequate standard of living as proclaimed in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Lastly, the construction of the wall and its associated régime, by contributing to the demographic changes referred to in paragraphs 122 and 133 above, contravene Article 49, paragraph 6, of the Fourth Geneva Convention and the Security Council resolutions cited in paragraph 120 above.
137. To sum up, the Court, from the material available to it, is not convinced that the specific course Israel has chosen for the wall was necessary to attain its security objectives. The wall, along the route chosen, and its associated régime gravely infringe a number of rights of Palestinians residing in the territory occupied by Israel, and the infringements resulting from that route cannot be justified by military exigencies or by the requirements of national security or public order. The construction of such a wall accordingly constitutes breaches by Israel of various of its obligations under the applicable international humanitarian law and human rights instruments. |
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REFERENCES
International Court of Justice. "Legal Consequences of the Construction
of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory", General List No.
131 (9 July 2004).
Shehadeh, Raja. "The Legislative Stages of the Israeli Military Occupation".
Found in "International Law and the Administration of Occupied Territories".
Editor: Playfair, Emma. Clarendon Press, Oxford, England (1992). |