Sunday, May 15, 2016

Are They Legal? Israeli Settlements and International Law



Are They Legal?

Israeli Settlements and International Law
Attempts to present Jewish settlement in West Bank territory (ancient Judea and Samaria) as illegal and "colonial" in nature ignores the complexity of this issue, the history of the land, and the unique legal circumstances of this case.
Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs


Professor Eugene Kontorovich: The Legal Case for Israel



The Levy Commission to Examine the Status of Building in Judea and Samaria

This report takes on the issue of "Occupation" and Israeli sovereignty over Yehudah and Shomron (the West Bank head on, addressing the issues of International Law.


Below is the text of the actual Levy Report in Hebrew, followed by a link to an English translation of the actual legal arguments of the Levy Report (from Elder of Ziyon) and after that a translation of the conclusions and recommendations of the Report in English.


Here is the Hebrew text of the Levy Report (full page view here)





English Translation of the
Legal Arguments in the Levy Report


Elder of Ziyon

Since the Levy Report was released, there has been a lot of heat but little light about its legal reasonings, which were in Hebrew. The only part that was released in English were its conclusions and recommendations.

Here, for the first time, is an English translation of its legal arguments. Those who try to downplay the report must find reasons why these arguments are invalid, rather than the proof by assertion that they usually resort to.
Continue reading English Translation of the Legal Arguments in the Levy Report on the Elder of Ziyon blog.

Conclusions and Recommendations of the Levy Commission Report

(full page view here)




The Legal Right To Palestine

International lawyers Howard Grief and Jacques Gauthier, along with former Israeli Ambassador to the UN Dore Gold review the history of the international legal precedents that demonstrate the legitimacy of the State of Israel in full accordance with International Law

  


Dr. Jacques Gauthier, "Whose Jerusalem Is It?" (see notes on this talk here)




Who Do The Territories Belong To?
The video, with English subtitles, is from The Yesha Council, which has put together other videos as well, in Hebrew.



A UN Resolution to Recognize a Palestinian State within the "1967 Borders" Would Be Illegal
A letter drafted by lawyers of the Legal Forum for Israel to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon
JCPA, May 2011

Hebrew version of above letter is here

Quand l'occupant n'est pas celui que l'on veut bien croire... 
Article in French about the above letter includes an interview with Prof. Eliav Shohatman on the Land of Israel's international law status
HaModia (French Edition), May 29, 2011

The Illegal-Settlements Myth
by David M. Phillips
Commentary, December 2009

Israeli settlements are more than legitimate 
In fact, the 1922 Mandate for Palestine encourages them.
By Eric Rozenman 
LA Times, December 11, 2009

Preserving a legal inheritance: settlement rights in the "Occupied Palestinian Territories"
By Gerald M Adler
Law Society of Scotland, September 14, 2009

The International Law and The Arab-Israel Conflict
Extracts from "Israel and Palestine - Assault on the Law of Nations"
By Julius Stone
Editor: Ian Lacey
2003

International Law Regarding The Land of Israel and Jerusalem
More on the San Remo Conference
by Elliott A. Green
Midstream, February/March, 1999

San Remo's Mandate: Israel's 'Magna Carta'
The 1920 San Remo resolution answered a fundamental issue that still plagues the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks today: whether Israel has a right to the land.



See here for further clarification on the importance of San Remo and "The Mandate For Palestine"

Legal Rights and Title of Sovereignty of the Jewish People to the Land of Israel and Palestine under International Law
Howard Grief
NATIV Online, vol. 2, 2004

From "Occupied Territories" to "Disputed Territories"
The term "occupied territories" or "occupation" seems to apply only to Israel
By Dore Gold
Jerusalem Center For Public Affairs, January 16, 2002

Diplomatic and Legal Aspects of the Settlement Issue
Settlements are not illegal, and have neither the size, population, nor placement to deserve the attention they receive
By Jeffrey Helmreich
Jerusalem Center For Public Affairs, January 19, 2003

Articles By Eugene Rostow:
o "Historical Approach to the Issue of Legality of Jewish Settlement Activity"
o "Are the settlements legal? Resolved"
from Countering Bias and Misinformation mainly about the Arab-Israel conflict
by Maurice Ostroff

Inappropriate Use of the Fourth Geneva Convention
Did Israel really use "deportation" and "forced transfer" of its own population into "occupied territories"?
By Eli. E. Hertz 
Myths and Facts, February 3, 2010

World Leaders Ignore International Law
Rewriting history by using loaded language such as 'Occupied Territories,' the Settlements as an 'Obstacle to Peace' and 'Not Legitimate'
Eli. E. Hertz
Myths and Facts, September 21, 2009

2 comments:

  1. Israeli settlements are more than legitimate
    Critics may assail them on other grounds, but no one can deny that they are legal. In fact, the 1922 Mandate for Palestine encourages them.
    December 11, 2009|By Eric Rozenman
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    President Obama asserts, seconded by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, that "America does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements" in the West Bank. Both have praised the 10-month freeze on new residential building -- excluding eastern Jerusalem -- that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced late last month.

    Netanyahu now calls for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to resume negotiations or take the blame for lack of progress when the "one-time-only" freeze expires. Abbas' precondition -- adopted after Washington's pronouncements -- is that all Israeli construction, including in eastern Jerusalem, must cease permanently.

    Too bad international diplomacy doesn't have a replay button. If it did, the parties could look back at history, which would show that Israeli settlements not only are legitimate under international law but positively encouraged.

    The basic relevant provision, the League of Nations' 1922 British Mandate for Palestine, Article 6, encourages "close settlement by Jews on the land, including state lands and waste lands not required for public use." Most Israeli settlements in the West Bank have been built on land that was state land under the Ottomans, British, Jordanians and, after the 1967 Six-Day War, under the Israelis, or on property that has been privately purchased.

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  2. Commemoration of the San Remo conference
    In April 2010, a ceremony attended by politicians and others from Europe, the U.S. and Canada was held in San Remo at the house where the signing of the San Remo declaration took place in 1920. At the conclusion of the commemoration, the following statement was released:

    "Reaffirming the importance of the San Remo Resolution of April 25, 1920 - which included the Balfour Declaration in its entirety - in shaping the map of the modern Middle East, as agreed upon by the Supreme Council of the Principal Allied Powers (Britain, France, Italy, Japan, and the United States acting as an observer), and later approved and adopted unanimously by the League of Nations; the Resolution remains irrevocable, legally binding and valid to this day.

    "Emphasizing that the San Remo Resolution of 1920 recognized the exclusive national Jewish rights to the Land of Israel under international law, on the strength of the historical connection of the Jewish people to all the territory previously known as Palestine.

    "Recalling that such a seminal event as the San Remo Conference of 1920 has been forgotten or ignored by the community of nations, and that the rights it conferred upon the Jewish people have been unlawfully dismissed, curtailed and denied.

    "Asserting that a just and lasting peace, leading to the acceptance of secure and recognized borders between all States in the region, can only be achieved by recognizing the long established rights of the Jewish people under international law."

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