The Glorious History of Israel!
July 24, 2009
In lieu of this new report I thought I’d restart a damn blog. It infuriated me that much, I guess!
From my older blog (I just copied and pasted on here):
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights, on Thursday, released the final numbers of the murdered by Israel’s latest offensive in Gaza: 1434 (960 civilians, 239 police officers and 235 fighters). There were 5303 injuries reported by the Ministry of Health, including 1606 children and 828 women.
The report goes on:
The excessively disproportionate civilian death toll, and Israel’s conduct of hostilities – including, inter alia, indiscriminate attacks, wilful killing, the extensive destruction of property, target selection, the lack of precautions taken in attack, the excessive use of force, and the use of weapons such as white phosphorous in civilian areas – demand effective judicial redress. Many of the cases documented by PCHR constitute grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, and war crimes. The widespread and apparently systematic violations of customary IHL witnessed in the Gaza Strip may also amount to a crime against humanity.
So with that, I figure we should take a look at the history of violations of international law committed by Israel, let’s start at the beginning, shall we?
CREATION OF THE ISRAELI STATE (1947)
I. Illegal acquisition of land by force:
A. SHORT History: In 1947 the UN, in trying to resolve the Palestine issue, partitioned the land giving 55% of the land to the Zionists, who tallied only 16% of the total Palestine population and only held, prior to the UN resolution, 6% of the land. The plan also, unfairly redistributed the rich farmland, giving most to the Israeli side. Given this gross violation of Arab (and human) rights, the Arabs rightfully rebelled against the resolution and war broke out. As history has shown the Zionists won the war and with that increased their land holdings from 55 to 75%
B. International Laws Violated:
1. Hague Regulations (1907) and UN Charter (1945) both include articles stating that the seizure of land by force as illegal. However, even though in violation of both the new land grab by Israel was soon accepted as part of the new state.
i. UN Charter, Article 2, 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.
ii. Hague Regulations IV (1907) Articles 43 and 55:
Art. 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.
and,
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.
iii. Geneva Convention IV (1949) articles 47 and 54.
II. Forbidding Civilian Rights to Return.
A. Short History: Before, during and after the war the philosophy of the Zionist regime was, as Israel’s first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion stated, “I am for compulsory transfer; I do not see anything immoral in it.“
B. International Laws Violated:
1. Geneva Convention IV (1949) Articles 45, 46 and 49.
2. Geneva Convention Protocols (1977) Article 85, subsection 4d and 5.
As a result the UN General Assembly passed Resolution 193 (III) and the Security Council passed resolution 237.
III. Destruction of Holy Places and Interfering with Ministerial duties.
A. Short History: Freedom of religion is a basic (universal) human right.
B. International Laws Violated:
1. Universal Decleration of Human Rights (1948) Article 18:
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.
2. Hague Regulations Articles 18, 55 and 56
3. Geneva Convention IV (1949) Articles 30, 38, 58, 76, 78, 86, 93 & 142.
IV. Collective Punishment
A. Short History: Does this need to be explained? 
Ad Nauseum…
B. International Laws Violated:
1. Geneva Convention IV Article 33
2. Geneva Convention (Protocol 1) Article 75 (2d)
ISRAELI STATEHOOD (1948 – Present)
V. Collective Punishment (See IV, above)
VI. Racism
A. The main purpose of the European Zionist movement is for the establishment of an exclusive Jewish state, which has lead to laws that favors Jews over others.
B. International Laws Violated:
VII. Practice of Apartheid
A. SHORT History: Formal UN definition of Apartheid (articles 1 and 2). Please check here for a good explanation of Apartheid and a breakdown of Israeli Violations.
B. Violations of International Law: See A, above.
VIII. Denial of Arab Family Unity.
A. In 2003, the Knesset, under the guise of “security” passed laws that disallowed Israeli-Arabs in the occupied territories from joining family in Israel.
B. Violations of International Law
OCCUPATION (67-Present)
IX. Illegal Military Occupation
A. International Laws Violated:
1. UN Charter (1945), Article 51:
Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations, until the Security Council has taken measures necessary to maintain international peace and security. Measures taken by Members in the exercise of this right of self-defence shall be immediately reported to the Security Council and shall not in any way affect the authority and responsibility of the Security Council under the present Charter to take at any time such action as it deems necessary in order to maintain or restore international peace and security.
3. Illegal seizure of land by force, refer to I, above.
4. De facto annexation is a violation of international/universal laws regarding self-determination and human rights, see “Collective Punishment” and “Destruction of Holy Places”, IV and III, respectively.
5. Settlements, the movement of the occupier’s population into the occupied territories is illegal under international law.
i. Geneva Convention IV, Article 49 (line 6)
The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.
ii. Geneva Conventions (Protocol I), Article 85(4a)
(a) the transfer by the occupying Power of parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies, or the deportation or transfer of all or parts of the population of the occupied territory within or outside this territory, in violation of Article 49 of the Fourth Convention;
6. Violations to the “right of self-determination and equal rights”
i. UN Charter Article 1, section 2; Article 2 (4); Articles 55 & 56 (1945)
iii. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 1(1)
1. All peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.
IV. International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Article 1
V. Geneva Conventions (Protocol I), Article 1(4)
The situations referred to in the preceding paragraph include armed conflicts in which peoples are fighting against colonial domination and alien occupation and against racist regimes in the exercise of their right of self-determination, as enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and the Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Co-operation among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations.
X. Illegal Population Transfer
B. Violation of International Laws:
1. Geneva Conventions (1949), article 49(6)
2. Geneva Conventions (Protocol I), article 85(4a)
3. Ruling on the Illegal Apartheid wall.
XI. Modification of Local Laws
A. Short History: In order to Annex East Jerusalem, steal land for “settlements”, cage the Palestinian populace and exploit the Palestinian economy for it’s own sake, Israel needed to change certain laws within the Palestinian territories it illegally occupied.
It accomplished it’s motives by: subjugating the Palestinians to military orders changing the legal status of E. Jerusalem to make them parts of Israel; replacing Arab governance within the illegally occupied territories with Israeli military committees and establishing a permit system controlling all of the Palestinian economy; expropriating Palestinian land by military orders, which classified the newly stolen land under Israeli law, creating de facto annexation; physically isolating the Palestinian areas from one another via, Israeli only highways, buffer zones, wilderness preserves and separation barriers.
B. Violations of International Law
1. Hague Regulations IV, 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.
XII. Genocide
A. Haifa (1947), Deir Yassin (1948), Safsaf (1948), Sabra & Satila (1982), Gaza (2009)…
B. Violations of International Law
1. International Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, Articles 2&3
Article 2
In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
(a) Killing members of the group;
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
Article 3
The following acts shall be punishable:
(a) Genocide;
(b) Conspiracy to commit genocide;
(c) Direct and public incitement to commit genocide;
(d ) Attempt to commit genocide;
(e) Complicity in genocide.
2. Geneva Conventions IV, Article 147
Art. 147. Grave breaches to which the preceding Article relates shall be those involving any of the following acts, if committed against persons or property protected by the present Convention: wilful killing, torture or inhuman treatment, including biological experiments, wilfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health, unlawful deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement of a protected person, compelling a protected person to serve in the forces of a hostile Power, or wilfully depriving a protected person of the rights of fair and regular trial prescribed in the present Convention, taking of hostages and extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly.
3. Geneva Conventions (Protocol I), Article 85
XIII. Violation of UN Resolutions
A. Short History, here.
B. Violation of International Law
1. Charter of the United Nations, article 25
The Members of the United Nations agree to accept and carry out the decisions of the Security Council in accordance with the present Charter.
XIV. Ethnic Cleansing
A. Thank Allah for this site cause they did everything!
Sources:
2. UNITED NATIONS Deceleration of Human Rights (1948)
3. Hague Regulations IV (1907)
4. Geneva Convention IV (1949)
5. Geneva Conventions (Additional Protocol I) 1977
6. International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
7. International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid
9. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
10, Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide
And I cannot live without these sites:
14. Palestinian Center for Human Rights
BONUS: The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine by Ilan Pappe. A MUST read for everyone.
