scholarly journals The West Bank and International Humanitarian Law on the Eve of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Six-Day War

2017 ◽  
Vol 111 (2) ◽  
pp. 357-375 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theodor Meron

The West Bank and the Settlements, again? Readers may have had enough of this subject. But these are exceptional times. The adoption by the Security Council of Resolution 2334 on December 23, 2016, the unprecedented speech by Secretary Kerry delivered shortly thereafter, and the immediate rejection of both by Prime Minister Netanyahu, combined with the approach of the fiftieth anniversary of the Six-Day War in June 2017 and the continued march toward an inexorable demographic change in the West Bank, not to mention the nomination as U.S. Ambassador to Israel of a person reportedly supporting an active settlement policy and annexation: the confluence of these events demands our renewed attention. And while these developments undoubtedly have powerful political dimensions, they also call upon those of us who care about international law to speak up in support of its requirements and application.

Author(s):  
Bożena Drzewicka

Conceptions And Interpretations of Human Rights in Europe and Asia: Normative AspectsThe issue of confronting values between civilizations has become very important. It influences not only the level of international politics but also the international normative activity. It is very interesting for the modern international law and its doctrine. The most important factor of causing huge changes in the system of international law is still the international human rights protection and the international humanitarian law which is related to it. It is very difficult to create one catalogue of executive instruments and procedures but it is possible to influence the attitude toward the basic paradigms. The frictions appear from time to time and move to other planes. The West and Asia are still antagonists in the dialogue on the future of the world. The article is a contribution to the intercivilizational dialogue.


2021 ◽  
Vol 191 ◽  
pp. 402-442

Economics, trade and finance — Food imports — Import of foodstuffs originating from East Jerusalem, West Bank and Golan Heights into the European Union — Labelling of products — Whether products originating from Israeli settlements in the Occupied Territories must be labelled as such — Observance of international law — Whether foodstuffs coming from settlements established in breach of rules of international humanitarian law — Ethical considerations — Purchasing decisions of consumers — Misleading of consumers Relationship of international law and municipal law — European Union law — Treaty on European Union, 1992 — Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, 2007 — EU Customs Code — Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 — Consistent interpretation of EU law — Interpreting Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 in manner consistent with international law — Notions of “State”, “territory” and “place of provenance” — Referral of questions by national court to Court of Justice of European Union Territory — Status — Occupation — Occupied Territories in which State of Israel Occupying Power — East Jerusalem, West Bank and Golan Heights — Rules of international humanitarian law — Israel having limited jurisdiction — Israeli settlements in Occupied Territories — Palestinian people of West Bank enjoying right to self-determination — Golan Heights part of territory of Syrian Arab Republic — Import of foodstuffs into European Union — Labelling of products — Whether products originating from Israeli settlements in Occupied Territories must be labelled as such — Observance of international law — Whether foodstuffs coming from settlements established in breach of rules of international humanitarian law — Ethical considerations — Purchasing decisions of consumers — Misleading of consumers War and armed conflict — International humanitarian law — Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, 1949 — Article 49 — Obligation of States not to “deport or transfer part of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies” — Impact on labelling of products originating in Occupied Territories — Status of East Jerusalem, West Bank and Golan Heights as Occupied Territories — Whether products originating from Israeli settlements in the Occupied Territories must be labelled as such — The law of the European Union


Author(s):  
Marco LONGOBARDO

Abstract This paper explores the legality of the land closure imposed upon the Gaza Strip by Israel. After having considered the area under occupation, the paper argues that the legality of the closure must be determined under international humanitarian law, international human rights law, the principle of self-determination of peoples, and the Israeli-Palestinian agreements. In the light of these rules, the arbitrary closure of the Gaza Strip should be considered illegal because it breaches the unity between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, and because it violates the freedom of movement of the local population. Moreover, the closure breaches the relevant rules pertaining to the transit of goods in occupied territory. The paper concludes that most of the violations caused by the closure affect peremptory rules which produce obligations erga omnes, so that any state in the international community is entitled to react under the law of state responsibility.


2019 ◽  
Vol 44 (03) ◽  
pp. 704-725 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maayan Geva

This Article examines Israeli military lawyers’ practice of international humanitarian law (IHL) revolving around the West Bank and Gaza. Based on interviews with legal officers serving in the army between 1967–2009 and archival materials, it interrogates these lawyers’ work—the stories that they tell about law, their legal interpretations and their interactions with military decision makers. This interrogation is set in the context of broader structural, historical, and political shifts. Anchored around lawyers’ stories about law, their narration of law’s relationship with politics, and its position in relation to violence, this account sets out to contribute to discussions on lawyers’—and by extension law’s—past and present positions in states’ military affairs.


2005 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 24-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amichai Cohen

This article seeks to evaluate Israel's implementation of the international law of occupation in the territories which it came to control after the Six-Day War, from a new perspective. Many scholars have criticized or justified specific Israeli policies by comparing them to specific norms of international law. Contrary to this scholarship, this article addresses the questions at the core of current debates over the implementation of international law: Why has Israel chosen to implement some specific rules of international law and to ignore others? And what caused the changes in Israel's implementation of international law?Some of the answers to these questions can be found by examining the interests of various institutions involved in the implementation of International law, and the interplay between them. I suggest that in order to understand Israel's initial behavior one must look at the interests, goals and culture of the Israeli army, the IDF, the institution initially responsible for administering the territories. I shall further argue that subsequent changes in policies are a result of the struggle between the IDF and other Israeli institutions attempting to gain influence over the way the territories were controlled.


2012 ◽  
Vol 94 (888) ◽  
pp. 1511-1521 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Baker

This article discusses contentions voiced by ICRC President Maurer in a speech on ‘Challenges to humanitarian action in contemporary conflicts: Israel, the Middle East and beyond’, developed in the form of the article in this issue of the International Review of the Red Cross.It discusses challenges to international humanitarian law in situations where one party violates humanitarian norms, and questions some ICRC contentions and assumptions regarding the status of the West Bank territories, the status of Israel-Palestinian agreements, the status of the Gaza Strip, the concept of ‘occupation’, Israel's settlement policy, Israel's separation barrier, East Jerusalem, and concludes with a discussion of ICRC policies of confidentiality, as opposed to public engagement.


Author(s):  
Carla Ferstman

This chapter considers the consequences of breaches of human rights and international humanitarian law for the responsible international organizations. It concentrates on the obligations owed to injured individuals. The obligation to make reparation arises automatically from a finding of responsibility and is an obligation of result. I analyse who has this obligation, to whom it is owed, and what it entails. I also consider the right of individuals to procedures by which they may vindicate their right to a remedy and the right of access to a court that may be implied from certain human rights treaties. In tandem, I consider the relationship between those obligations and individuals’ rights under international law. An overarching issue is how the law of responsibility intersects with the specialized regimes of human rights and international humanitarian law and particularly, their application to individuals.


Author(s):  
Anicée Van Engeland

This chapter considers the extent to which Islamic governance can integrate international humanitarian law (IHL) into its own legal system by examining the case of Iran. It addresses the consequences of the emergence of an Islamic-universal hybrid legal system. The stakes are high because IHL’s efficiency and necessity have been questioned: The existence of the Iranian hybrid system of law can be perceived as a threat by scholars arguing that international law is at risk of fragmentation due to the variety of domestic and regional approaches to fundamental legal standards. The importance of those stakes is illustrated by the Iran-Iraq War: The process of mixing a universal secular legal system with a religious domestic law occurred at a crucial time when Iran was at war with Iraq, with clear effects on the protection of civilians and the conduct of hostilities.


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