World Politics News   Articles for World Politics Course

The UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People and the Irish Centre for Human Rights ats the University has published a report on the Israeli occupations of the territory it controlled after the 1967 war with Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. The report is entitled “The Legality of the Israeli Occupation” and it builds upon the positions taken by various legal organizations, including the International Court of Justice.

The report condemns the continuing occupation:

“Israel’s continued belligerent occupation of the Palestinian territory for almost 56 years – decades after it concluded peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan, key parties to the conflict, and after multiple Security Council calls for it to end – makes it clear that the belligerent occupation has exceeded the parameters of military necessity and proportionality for a legitimate act of self-defence. The study demonstrates that Israel is carrying out an indefinite belligerent occupation, with annexationist intent, in violation of the exercise of the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and permanent sovereignty over national resources. In doing so, this research broadly examines Israel’s breach of the principles and rules of international humanitarian law, and in particular, the breach of three peremptory norms: (1) the right to self-determination; (2) the prohibition on the acquisition of territory by use of force; and (3) the prohibition of racial discrimination and apartheid, as particularly compelling indicators that Israel is occupying the Palestinian territory in breach of the principles of immediacy, necessity and proportionality, rendering the belligerent occupation an unlawful use of force in self-defence.”

This conclusion is not surprising because the committee was looking only at the legal dimensions of the Israeli occupation and international law on military occupation is straightforward: occupiers are prohibited from making any permanent changes to the territory they are occupying. Since the United Nations Charter outlaws war as an instrument of diplomacy (self-defense is the only legitimate basis for the use of force–all other issues relating to peace and security should be dealt with by the UN Security Council), it is unlikely that the UN would sanction any action that served as a “reward” for aggression. So, the committee did not address the security threats that Israel uses to justify its control of the Palestinian population.

It would be a mistake, however, to dismiss the report because, as the Israelis allege, the UN has an anti-Israel bias. When reviewing the 57 years of Israeli occupation, it seems clear that the occupation is much more than an occupation; in recent years, the occupation has served as a cover for annexation. The current Israeli government includes individuals who unabashedly call for complete Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank:

“Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has openly admitted that his right to move around unimpeded is superior to the freedom of movement for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, sparking outrage.

“My right, the right of my wife and my children to move around Judea and Samaria is more important than freedom of movement for the Arabs,” he said in a Wednesday evening interview with Channel 12 News, using the biblical term for the occupied territory.”

This position is not acceptable for anyone who believes in the right of self-determination. The Palestinians did not consent to be ruled by Israeli law. And it is hard for me to conceive of any circumstances in which the Palestinian people would agree to Israeli rule. And given the level of violence between Israelis and Palestinians in recent months, as the BBC reports: “

“There’s been a dramatic rise in violence carried out by extremist Israeli settlers against Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank this year, with more than 100 incidents reported a month according to the UN. It warns that some 400 people have been driven from their land since the start of 2022.

“Smashed cars and homes and shops set ablaze. Recent months have seen some of the worst ever scenes of settler violence in the occupied West Bank.”

Israel does have security threats, but it is important to remember that Israel has signed peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan and is working to improve its relations with Saudi Arabia. Iran is clearly a threat, but a threat that has truly little to do with the occupation. The Palestinians have resorted to violence, but it is difficult for me to imagine how the Israelis could expect anything else given the circumstances.

The report is long and very dense. But if one wishes to be better informed about the situation, I recommend the report.