Most of the articles in this Blog have attempted to point out how the actions of the Government of Israel violate the laws and core values of Judaism.
Five years ago, I participated in a panel discussion about the illegality of the Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Prior to the presentation I prepared four handouts.
One was "Facts Which Might Apply to the Issue of the Legality of Settlements in the West Bank", a chronology of the growth of the settlements previously excerpted in a number of articles beginning with this one and continuing.
A second."A Case Study - Jewish Israelis Living in Hebron" was another chronology specifically directed at the Jewish settlers in Hebron and previously excerpted for a number of articles beginning with this one;
The third, "Quotes over the Years about the Illegality and Immorality of the Settlements", included an excerpt from a talk by Rabbi Ben-Zion Gold given when he was the head of Harvard Hillel. I previously published the full talk (including his statement that the settlements were a grave and dangerous mistake). I will publish the entire handout in my next post.
The final handout was entitled "Laws Which Might Apply to the Issue of the Legality of Settlements in the West Bank". I have reprinted this handout below. In my opinion, the Governments of Israel have for over 40 years deliberately violated international law and ignored numberous resolutions of the United Nations.
LAWS WHICH MIGHT APPLY TO THE ISSUE OF THE LEGALITY OF SETTLEMENTS IN THE WEST BANK
HAGUE CONVENTION ON THE LAWS AND CUSTOMS OF WAR ON LAND, AND ITS ATTACHED REGULATIONS, OF 1907 (on, among other topics, the temporary nature of military occupation) Article 55 states “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 (A right to the use and enjoyment of the fruits or profits of another’s property, without fundamentally changing its substance)
FOURTH GENEVA CONVENTION RELATIVE TO CIVILIAN PERSONS IN TIME OF WAR, OF 1949: ARTICLE 49 - “The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.” Article 35 is similar.
ARTICLE 2 OF THE UNITED NATIONS CHARTER - renouncing the acquisition of territory by force
UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY RESOLUTION 181 and 194 of 1949 – authorizing two states and the right of return of refugees – a condition of Israel’s admission to the United Nations
UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION 242 (1967) of 22 November 1967
The Security Council,
Expressing its continuing concern with the grave situation in the Middle East,Emphasizing the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war and the need to work for a just and lasting peace in which every State in the area can live in security,Emphasizing further that all Member States in their acceptance of the Charter of the United Nations have undertaken a commitment to act in accordance with Article 2 of the Charter,1. Affirms that the fulfillment of Charter principles requires the establishment of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East which should include the application of both the following principles:(i) Withdrawal of Israel armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict;(ii) Termination of all claims or states of belligerency and respect for and acknowledgment of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of every State in the area and their right to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force;2. Affirms further the necessity(a) For guaranteeing freedom of navigation through international waterways in the area;(b) For achieving a just settlement of the refugee problem;(c) For guaranteeing the territorial inviolability and political independence of every State in the area, through measures including the establishment of demilitarized zones;3. Requests the Secretary-General to designate a Special Representative to proceed to the Middle East to establish and maintain contacts with the States concerned in order to promote agreement and assist efforts to achieve a peaceful and accepted settlement in accordance with the provisions and principles in this resolution;4. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the Security Council on the progress of the efforts of the Special Representative as soon as possible.
Adopted unanimously at the 1382nd meeting.
UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION 338 OF OCTOBER 22, 1973
The Security Council,
1.Calls upon all parties to present fighting to cease all firing and terminate all military activity immediately, no later than 12 hours after the moment of the adoption of this decision, in the positions after the moment of the adoption of this decision, in the positions they now occupy;
2.Calls upon all parties concerned to start immediately after the cease-fire the implementation of Security Council Resolution 242 (1967) in all of its parts;
3.Decides that, immediately and concurrently with the cease-fire, negotiations start between the parties concerned under appropriate auspices aimed at establishing a just and durable peace in the Middle East.
UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION 465 OF 1980
"Settlements and International Law – 5. Determines that all measures taken by Israel to change the physical character, demographic composition, institutional structure or status of the Palestinian and other Arab territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem, or any part thereof, have no legal validity and that Israel's policy and practices of settling parts of its population and new immigrants in those territories constitute a flagrant violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War and .. a serious obstruction to achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East.
UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION 132 of 2000 – Israel’s military response is “excessive force”.
UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS drafted in two international conventions adopted by the United Nations in 1966: the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).
1.Right to Self-Determination – Art. 1 of both states “All peoples have the right to self-determination.”
2.Right to Equality – Art. 2 of both states “Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status and furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.”
3.Right to Property – Art. 17 of both states “Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others and no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.”
4.Right to an Adequate Standard of Living – Art. 11 of ICESCR states: “The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food, clothing and housing and to the continuous improvement of living conditions.”
5.Freedom of Movement - Article 12 of the ICCPR provides that everyone shall have the right to freedom of movement, without restrictions, in his country.
THE ROME STATUTE OF THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT (1998) defines “the transfer directly or indirectly by the Occupying Power of parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies” as a War Crime indictable by the International Criminal Court.
FIVE BOOKS OF MOSES AND OTHER JEWISH TEXTS:
Deutoronomy XVI, 20 “Justice, Justice shalt thou follow, that thou mayest live and inherit the land with the Lord thy God giveth thee”
Following are excerpts from footnoted material in the Hertz edition: Where there is no justice, no proper and practical appreciation of the human rights of every human being as sons of the one and only God of righteousness – there we have a negation of religion. The oppressor, the man who tramples on others, and especially on those like the orphan and the stranger who are too weak to defend themselves, is throughout Scripture held forth as the enemy of God and man. Nor is justice limited to the relation between individuals. It extends to the relation between group and group, and it asserts the claims of the poor upon the rich, of the helpless upon them who possess the means to help. And even as there is social justice, prescribing the duties of class to class, so there is international justice, which demands respect for the personality of each and every national group, and proclaims that no people can of right be robbed of its national life or territory, its language or spiritual heritage. The pure administration of justice is thus one of the conditions of Israel’s existence as a nation. Our teachers, from the first of them to the last, brand the perversion of the course of justice as the most alarming sign of national decay.
OTHER LAWS TO CONSIDER
1.Ottoman Empire Laws
2.Kingdom of Jordan Laws
3.Mandate for Palestine of the League of Nations appointing His Britannic Majesty as Mandatory for Palestine, July 24, 1922 – Articles 1-28
4.Armistice Agreements of 1949
5.Israeli Laws – Section 3 of the Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty provides: “There shall be no violation of the property of a person.”
6.Israeli Independent Defense Force military orders
7.Oslo Agreement
8.United States Laws The Alien Tort Claims Act which allows non-US citizens to sue in US Courts for human rights violations that occur overseas such as the Burmese villages suit against UNOCAL
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