Israel as a Violator of Public International Law - Essay Example

? Israel as a Violator of Public International Law Teacher               Israel as a Violator of Public International Law Israel has always been accused of violating international law and other laws that govern war and occupation of conquered territories. The laws violated by Israel include international humanitarian laws, the laws of war, decisions of the International Court of Justice, UN resolutions and the provisions of the fourth Geneva Convention. However, based on physical evidence and objective data from reputable organizations like the Human Rights Watch, the UN and the ICJ, Israel indeed deserves these accusations. Israel has committed numerous violations of international law, or the international humanitarian law. These violations were properly documented and no matter what justifications of the Israeli government were for such violations, the fact remains that the law has been violated. One of these was the illegal occupation of land acquired by force, which was a violation of Principle 1 of the Principles of International Law Concerning Friendly Relations as well as Articles 2 and 5 of the U. N. Charter (List of International Law Violations, 2012). This happened when Israel acquired East Jerusalem and Golan Heights as well as Palestinian lands. Any military occupation that ensues from a war is only possible and legal if it is done for defense. Besides, such military occupation is clearly a defiance of the U. N. Partition Plan that already allocated lands to Israel. Another violation of the international humanitarian law by Israel was to force native Palestinian populations out of the occupied land. Moreover, those that remained were clearly discriminated and were forbidden to own lands, rent lands or even get jobs. In fact, this particular violation of international humanitarian law was also a violation of articles 45, 46 and 49 of the fourth Geneva Convention, and of the U. N. Resolution 194 (“List of International Law Violations,” 2012). A third violation of the international humanitarian law by Israel includes the massive violations of human rights, which were particularly against Principle 5 of the Declaration on Principles of International Law Concerning Friendly Relations. Many of these human rights violations committed by Israel included cruel acts against Palestinians such as numerous instances of torture, harassment at checkpoints, land confiscation, disruption of medical care, destruction of public and private property, family separation and many others (List of International Law Violations, 2012). Restriction of the entry of goods into Israeli-occupied Gaza was also another violation of international law (Complete Coverage of Israel/Gaza, 2012). The killing of the Hamas Commander in November 2012 in a place where two children were killed was also a violation of international law (A grave violation of international law, 2012). Such cruel acts and violations of international humanitarian laws were not only hearsays but were confirmed by international organizations which are politically and legally neutral such as the Human Rights Watch and the International Court of Justice. These international organizations naturally do not take sides and thus remain objective, which means that they do not take the side of either the Palestinians or Israel. From the aforementioned evidence there was clearly no sign that such accusations were coming from a moral or political standpoint. Besides, Israel, no matter what its motives were, clearly committed violations of the international humanitarian laws. Another group of violations of Israel includes those against the laws of war and those against the fourth Geneva Convention. Some of these violations included illegl Israeli settlements on Palestinian lands, which violated Article 49 of the fourth Geneva Convention. The provision of the fourth Geneva Convention states that it would be illegal for any country to colonize occupied land or transfer their own people to that land. However, despite the law, Israel built more than 200 settlements in the Palestinian lands that they conquered and allowed over 450,000 Israeli civilians to settle there (Planned Israeli Settlements in West Bank violate international law, 2012). According to Malanczuk (1997), in his Modern Introduction to International Law, a territory can only be controlled if it has been previously abandoned by the enemy; otherwise a tribunal like the UN should make a decision which of the countries had a stronger claim for the territory. Israel clearly violated this aspect of the international law when it came to its occupations of Palestine. Another violation of the fourth Geneva Convention was collective punishment carried out by Israeli soldiers against occupied Palestinian communities and such violations were usually in the form of destroying neighborhoods and homes, not allowing civilians to leave their houses, confiscating farmlands and bulldozing homes (List of International Law Violations, 2012). Other violations of the fourth Geneva Convention included seemingly deliberate attacks on men, women and children, hitting hospitals and ambulances as well as medical personnel, and using white phosphorus in attacking civilians (Civilian Pawns, 1996). Violations of the laws of war included firing at houses of civilians which the Israeli military claimed served as the hideout of several guerillas. The seeming lack of discretion on the part of the Israeli military by bombing civilian houses showed their violation of the laws of war. In fact, an Israeli colonel himself said, “The only question you ask yourself when you blow up someone’s house is whether to use 50 kilos of dynamite or 25 kilos” (Civilian Pawns, 1996). Such statement therefore demonstrates both the cruelty of the Israeli military in carrying out their military operations and their disobedience to the laws of war. Israel also violated decisions of the International Court of Justice as shown in its attacks on Gaza. According to the report of Al-Jazeera, “the former Head of International Law Department of the Military Advocate General’s Office [said that] Israel no longer bears responsibility to ‘actively ensure a normal life for the civilian population [of Gaza]’” (International Law, 2012). This means that Israel had to relinquish control of the state. However, contrary to the decision of the ICJ, Israel still controlled Gaza communications, water, electricity and police force (International Law, 2012). Another violation by Israel of the decision of the International Court of Justice was the construction of a wall in the occupied Palestinian territory (Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, 2004). Israel also committed several violations of 28 UN security council recollections. These violations were related to occupations, military aggression, land annexations, human rights violations and many others (List of International Law Violations, 2012). One justification of Israel on the matter includes “faulty intelligence,” which the Israeli military claimed was the reason why several civilians were killed in their attacks (International Law, 2012). However, this could only have been a mere alibi by the Israeli military. Another excuse that the Israeli military gave was only a retaliation to the attacks of the enemy, yet much evidence points out that the Israeli military fired first on several occasions. A third excuse was the presence of enemy guerillas in civilian areas but it is still a human rights violation if one bombed a civilian area regardless of the presence of the enemy in there and this is considered an indiscriminate attack. According to the Israeli military, SLA radio station had already broadcast the attack beforehand so civilians had a chance to leave their homes but the broadcasts were like “threats of a general nature,” thus it caused pressure and chaos on the people. One last defense presented by former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres himself was “We did not know that several hundred people were concentrated in that camp [that the Israeli military had bombed] (Civilian Pawns, 1996). Nevertheless, to the International Court of Justice and to the United Nations, this may have seemed like a lame excuse made by a country of known superior military intelligence. The Israeli government, through its military operations, has clearly violated the international humanitarian law, the laws of war, the provisions of the fourth Geneva Convention and several UN resoltuions. Overall, the atrocities committed by Israel against Palestine and other territories that it conquered were unjustified, because the justifications were far from believable. Moreover, no matter how true these justifications were, the fact remains that crimes have been committed by the Israeli military and laws have been violated. There were no obvious moral or political issues involved in these accusations against Israel, as shown not only by overwhelming physical evidence but also by an objective assessment of reputable organizations like the Human Rights Watch, the UN, and the International Court of Justice. References A grave violation of internatinal law: SDPI on Israeli action. (2012). Retrieved from Two Circles: http://www.twocircles.net/2012nov18/grave_violation_international_law_sdpi_israeli_action.html Civilian Pawns: Laws of War Violations and the Use of Weapons on the Israel-Lebanon Border. (1996). Retrieved from the Human Rights Watch: http://www.hrw.org/reports/1996/Israel.htm Complete Coverage of Israel/Gaza. (2012). Retrieved from Human Rights Watch: http://www.hrw.org/en/features/israel-gaza International Law, the Gaza War, and Palestinian’s stae of exception. (2012). Retrieved from Aljazeera: http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/11/20121121103831534612.html List of International Law Violations by the State of Israel. (2012). Retrieved from It Is Apartheid Organization: http://itisapartheid.org/Documents_pdf_etc/IsraelViolationsInternationalLaw.pdf Malanczuk, P. (1997). “Acquisition of Territory.” Modern Introduction to International Law. 7th ed. New York, NY: Routledge, 148-150. Planned Israeli settlements in West Bank violate international law, says UN envoy. (2012). Retrieved from the UN News Center: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=42168#.UOtiHqyKFWk Read More