The legality of occupation
What is the "occupation" and what does Israel actually occupy? So much is made by the left and the pro-Palestinians about " the occupation" that you'd think it was the origin of all the problems. Actually, as facts show, it is not.
First let us acknowledge that Israel has a legitimate claim in international law to all of the area of mandatary Palestine. It was this fact, supported by the Balfour Declaration as well as the outcome of the 1948 War of Independence, recognition by the UN and then the 1967 Six Day War, that lead to Israel's position as sovereign in most of what had been Palestine. Note that the ceasefire lines from 1948 determine the West Bank borders, and as such have no international legitimacy. However, although having a legitimate claim, Israel did not annex all of the West Bank or Gaza, as it did the Golan Heights captured from Syria, pending expected peace negotiations with the Palestinians.
In the absence of such negotiations and continued conflict, Israel removed all settlements and military facilties from Gaza in 2005. Therfore there is no "occupation" of Gaza! But what happened, the Palestinians continued to attack Israel with Kassam rockets from Gaza, as well as continuing to launch terrorist attacks, for example at the Karni and other crossings, and to kill and injure Israelis. Of course, the same happened in Lebanon, after Israel withdrew completely, as verified by the UN. Hizbollah continued to attack Israel using the Sabbah Farms, that had been part of Syria, as an excuse. These attacks lead to the second Lebanon War.
Israeli occupation is not the cause of Palestinian hostility, but a result of it. For example, in the West Bank there are numerous Jewish settlements, but even if there were none does anyone believe that the Palestinians would not continue to attack Israel as they do from Gaza. Under the Oslo Accords, Israel accepted the establishment of the PA and was due to gradually give up land to the PA according to an agreed schedule, in which some of the land would be jointly controlled for some period of time. First Israel gave up the seven cities, Tulkarm, Ramallah, Jericho, Kalkilya, Jenin, Bethlehem and Nablus to form the PA in 1994. Then the IDF started to withdraw from other areas, until 95% of the Palestinian population was under PA control.
But, then in 2000 the PA launched the second intifada, and the killings and suicide bombings reached a peak in 2002, until Israel under Labor Governments was forced to retake some of the areas that had been evacuated and launch operations against the PA cities.
This is the situation as of now, but although Israel has built the Security Fence that has greatly reduced suicide bombings, the terrorist organizations have not given up trying. Only last week a terrorist was captured in central Jerusalem wearing a bomb belt made of plastic explosives not detectable by metal detectors. After interrogation he lead the security services to another such belt that was hidden in the Palestinian police building in Ramallah where they arrested a Palestinian policeman. So much for cooperation with the PA. Predominant public opinion in Israel is that if this is the response to our willingly giving up territory and taking risks for peace, why should we actually do it again. Its not worth it, it only gives them better positions from which to attack us.
It is often said that the humiliation of the Palestinians, having to wait at road blocks and to take inconvenient routes, is what fosters their hostility. But, before the intifada started there were very few such roadblocks, and most were instituted in order to catch and prevent suicide bombers. Even now it is one of the most effective means of protecting Israeli civilians. So they brought this suffering on themselves, and it becomes a vicious cycle.
The left wing Israeli organization Peace Now has for years been monitoring Jewish settlements on the West Bank. It would be true to say that in this respect they act as a wing of the pro-Palestinian movement and of the PA. They certainly consider the Jewish settlers (especially orthodox Jews) as their enemy more than the Palestinians, who they protect and support. One of their latest actions was to issue a report at a press conference this week that claims that most of the settlements on the West Bank are built on private Palestinian property that was confiscated for this purpose. They estimate that ca. 40% of the land on which the settlements have been built falls into this category.
But, there are some very strange assumptions in their analysis. For example, before any land was used and can be used legally for building on, the owners must be given the opportunity to come forward and claim it, this usually takes 1-3 months and often requires legal proceedings. This was the process followed in all cases of Israeli building. In many cases Palestinians who claimed land had no legal papers or any sources to support their claim, also in many cases several Palestinian families or clans claimed the same piece of land (leading to strife). In some cases they were able to prove their ownership and still own and use their land (for example in Maale Adumim). Unless they can produce some legal basis for their claim they cannot be given title to the land, even if they still tell Peace Now that their land was confiscated.
Another very strange thing is that most of the land, ca. 60% of the West Bank, was State-owned land, ie. it was controlled by the previous sovereign (first the Turks and then the British) and passed on to the Israeli State. For reasons not given, Peace Now does not recognize this usual legal process, but although they don't recognize any Israeli State land on the West Bank, they consider all this land to have been owned by the Palestinian people. Very often you will see in the media the term "Palestinian Land," but there is no such thing. Legally this is nonsense, since there was no sovereign Palestinian entity that inherited this land. By using such subterfuges, Peace Now tries to subvert the normal legal processes of the State and tries to infer that Israel "occupied" the land of the West Bank illegally rather than having a legal claim to it. It is sad that Israeli organizations like Peace Now are prepared to lie and cheat in order to score points against their own State, people and interests.
First let us acknowledge that Israel has a legitimate claim in international law to all of the area of mandatary Palestine. It was this fact, supported by the Balfour Declaration as well as the outcome of the 1948 War of Independence, recognition by the UN and then the 1967 Six Day War, that lead to Israel's position as sovereign in most of what had been Palestine. Note that the ceasefire lines from 1948 determine the West Bank borders, and as such have no international legitimacy. However, although having a legitimate claim, Israel did not annex all of the West Bank or Gaza, as it did the Golan Heights captured from Syria, pending expected peace negotiations with the Palestinians.
In the absence of such negotiations and continued conflict, Israel removed all settlements and military facilties from Gaza in 2005. Therfore there is no "occupation" of Gaza! But what happened, the Palestinians continued to attack Israel with Kassam rockets from Gaza, as well as continuing to launch terrorist attacks, for example at the Karni and other crossings, and to kill and injure Israelis. Of course, the same happened in Lebanon, after Israel withdrew completely, as verified by the UN. Hizbollah continued to attack Israel using the Sabbah Farms, that had been part of Syria, as an excuse. These attacks lead to the second Lebanon War.
Israeli occupation is not the cause of Palestinian hostility, but a result of it. For example, in the West Bank there are numerous Jewish settlements, but even if there were none does anyone believe that the Palestinians would not continue to attack Israel as they do from Gaza. Under the Oslo Accords, Israel accepted the establishment of the PA and was due to gradually give up land to the PA according to an agreed schedule, in which some of the land would be jointly controlled for some period of time. First Israel gave up the seven cities, Tulkarm, Ramallah, Jericho, Kalkilya, Jenin, Bethlehem and Nablus to form the PA in 1994. Then the IDF started to withdraw from other areas, until 95% of the Palestinian population was under PA control.
But, then in 2000 the PA launched the second intifada, and the killings and suicide bombings reached a peak in 2002, until Israel under Labor Governments was forced to retake some of the areas that had been evacuated and launch operations against the PA cities.
This is the situation as of now, but although Israel has built the Security Fence that has greatly reduced suicide bombings, the terrorist organizations have not given up trying. Only last week a terrorist was captured in central Jerusalem wearing a bomb belt made of plastic explosives not detectable by metal detectors. After interrogation he lead the security services to another such belt that was hidden in the Palestinian police building in Ramallah where they arrested a Palestinian policeman. So much for cooperation with the PA. Predominant public opinion in Israel is that if this is the response to our willingly giving up territory and taking risks for peace, why should we actually do it again. Its not worth it, it only gives them better positions from which to attack us.
It is often said that the humiliation of the Palestinians, having to wait at road blocks and to take inconvenient routes, is what fosters their hostility. But, before the intifada started there were very few such roadblocks, and most were instituted in order to catch and prevent suicide bombers. Even now it is one of the most effective means of protecting Israeli civilians. So they brought this suffering on themselves, and it becomes a vicious cycle.
The left wing Israeli organization Peace Now has for years been monitoring Jewish settlements on the West Bank. It would be true to say that in this respect they act as a wing of the pro-Palestinian movement and of the PA. They certainly consider the Jewish settlers (especially orthodox Jews) as their enemy more than the Palestinians, who they protect and support. One of their latest actions was to issue a report at a press conference this week that claims that most of the settlements on the West Bank are built on private Palestinian property that was confiscated for this purpose. They estimate that ca. 40% of the land on which the settlements have been built falls into this category.
But, there are some very strange assumptions in their analysis. For example, before any land was used and can be used legally for building on, the owners must be given the opportunity to come forward and claim it, this usually takes 1-3 months and often requires legal proceedings. This was the process followed in all cases of Israeli building. In many cases Palestinians who claimed land had no legal papers or any sources to support their claim, also in many cases several Palestinian families or clans claimed the same piece of land (leading to strife). In some cases they were able to prove their ownership and still own and use their land (for example in Maale Adumim). Unless they can produce some legal basis for their claim they cannot be given title to the land, even if they still tell Peace Now that their land was confiscated.
Another very strange thing is that most of the land, ca. 60% of the West Bank, was State-owned land, ie. it was controlled by the previous sovereign (first the Turks and then the British) and passed on to the Israeli State. For reasons not given, Peace Now does not recognize this usual legal process, but although they don't recognize any Israeli State land on the West Bank, they consider all this land to have been owned by the Palestinian people. Very often you will see in the media the term "Palestinian Land," but there is no such thing. Legally this is nonsense, since there was no sovereign Palestinian entity that inherited this land. By using such subterfuges, Peace Now tries to subvert the normal legal processes of the State and tries to infer that Israel "occupied" the land of the West Bank illegally rather than having a legal claim to it. It is sad that Israeli organizations like Peace Now are prepared to lie and cheat in order to score points against their own State, people and interests.
posted by Jack Cohen at 7:29 PM
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