Israel Occupation Forces

Legal Consequences For All Other U.N. Member States Arising From Israel’s Policies And Practices & From The Illegality Of Israel’s Continued Presence In The Occupied Palestinian Territory

2024-09-06:  The International Court of Justice (ICJ) published an Advisory Legal Opinion / Avis Juridique Consultatif on 19 July 2024.

Following is an Extract from that Document … Section VII B … Paragraphs 278 & 279 … which set out, very clearly, the legal consequences for ALL OTHER MEMBER STATES of the United Nations (#UN) concerning their dealings with the State of Israel …

ALL OTHER MEMBER STATES of the United Nations are OBLIGED to comply, and without undue delay … in stark view of the State of Israel’s criminal political and military environment.

  1. Taking note of the resolutions of the U.N. Security Council and General Assembly, the International Court of Justice is of the view that Member States are under an obligation not to recognize any changes in the physical character or demographic composition, institutional structure or status of the territory occupied by Israel on 5 June 1967, including East Jerusalem, except as agreed by the parties through negotiations, and to distinguish in their dealings with Israel between the territory of the State of Israel and the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967.  The Court considers that the duty of distinguishing dealings with Israel between its own territory and the Occupied Palestinian Territory encompasses, inter alia, the obligation to abstain from treaty relations with Israel in all cases in which it purports to act on behalf of the Occupied Palestinian Territory or a part thereof on matters concerning the Occupied Palestinian Territory or a part of its territory ;  to abstain from entering into economic or trade dealings with Israel concerning the Occupied Palestinian Territory or parts thereof which may entrench its unlawful presence in the territory ;  to abstain, in the establishment and maintenance of diplomatic missions in Israel, from any recognition of its illegal presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory ;  and to take steps to prevent trade or investment relations that assist in the maintenance of the illegal situation created by Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (see Legal Consequences for States of the Continued Presence of South Africa in Namibia (South West Africa) notwithstanding Security Council Resolution 276 (1970), Advisory Opinion, I.C.J. Reports 1971, pp. 55-56, paras. 122, 125-127).
  1. Moreover, the Court considers that, in view of the character and importance of the rights and obligations involved, all States are under an obligation not to recognize as legal the situation arising from the unlawful presence of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.  They are also under an obligation not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by Israel’s illegal presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.  It is for all States, while respecting the Charter of the United Nations and International Law, to ensure that any impediment resulting from the illegal presence of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory to the exercise of the Palestinian people of its right to self-determination is brought to an end.  In addition, all the States Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention have the obligation, while respecting the Charter of the United Nations and International Law, to ensure compliance by Israel with international humanitarian law as embodied in that Convention.

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Israel’s Expanding Colonial Occupation of Palestine …

Graphic Image, in colour, showing a sequence of Maps – at years: 1917; 1946; 1947; 1967; Present Day – of a Shrinking Palestine with the corresponding Expanding Colonial Occupation by Israel.  Not shown are the post-1967 occupied Golan Heights in Syria and Sinai Peninsula in Egypt.  Click to enlarge.

Notes …

1882 – The first Zionist Colony (Hebrew: ‘Aliyah’, the act of going up towards the holy city of Jerusalem) … Rishon LeZion … established in Ottoman Palestine by Jewish immigrants from what was then the Russian Empire (today’s Kharkiv in #Ukraine).

1916 – Long before World War I ended in 1918 … the British & French (Sykes-Picot) Agreement to carve up the Ottoman Middle East between them.  Russia was excluded.

1917 – The Balfour Declaration … British Government statement of support for (‘view with favour’) the establishment of a ‘national home for the Jewish people’ … ‘it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine’.

1948 – #Nakba (Arabic: ‘catastrophe’) … Ethnic Cleansing / Expulsion of 750,000+ Palestinians … mass killings and violent displacement, with expropriation of lands, property and belongings … no right of return.

1967 – Arab-Israeli War (5-10 June), fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab States, primarily Egypt, Syria, Jordan … after which Israel illegally occupied: the Golan Heights in #Syria ;  the West Bank including East Jerusalem in #Jordan ;  the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza in #Egypt.

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United Nations 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide

2024-01-16 …

[ Approved and proposed for signature, and ratification or accession, by U.N. General Assembly Resolution 260 A (III) of 9 December 1948.  Entry into force: 12 January 1951, in accordance with article XIII. ]

The Contracting Parties,

Having considered the declaration made by the General Assembly of the United Nations in its Resolution 96 (I), dated 11 December 1946, that Genocide is a crime under international law, contrary to the spirit and aims of the United Nations and condemned by the civilized world,

Recognizing that at all periods of history, Genocide has inflicted great losses on humanity,  and

Being convinced that, in order to liberate mankind from such an odious scourge, international co-operation is required,

Hereby agree as hereinafter provided:

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Article I

The Contracting Parties confirm that Genocide, whether committed in time of peace or in time of war, is a crime under international law which they undertake to prevent and to punish.

Article II

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 III

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.

Article IV

Persons committing Genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in article III shall be punished, whether they are constitutionally responsible rulers, public officials or private individuals.

Article V

The Contracting Parties undertake to enact, in accordance with their respective Constitutions, the necessary legislation to give effect to the provisions of the present Convention, and, in particular, to provide effective penalties for persons guilty of Genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in article III.

Article VI

Persons charged with Genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in article III shall be tried by a competent tribunal of the State in the territory of which the act was committed, or by such international penal tribunal as may have jurisdiction with respect to those Contracting Parties which shall have accepted its jurisdiction.

Article VII

Genocide and the other acts enumerated in article III shall not be considered as political crimes for the purpose of extradition.

The Contracting Parties pledge themselves in such cases to grant extradition in accordance with their laws and treaties in force.

Article VIII

Any Contracting Party may call upon the competent organs of the United Nations to take such action under the Charter of the United Nations as they consider appropriate for the prevention and suppression of acts of Genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in article III.

Article IX

Disputes between the Contracting Parties relating to the interpretation, application or fulfilment of the present Convention, including those relating to the responsibility of a State for Genocide or for any of the other acts enumerated in article III, shall be submitted to the International Court of Justice at the request of any of the parties to the dispute.

Article X

The present Convention, of which the Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish texts are equally authentic, shall bear the date of 9 December 1948.

Article XI

The present Convention shall be open until 31 December 1949 for signature on behalf of any Member of the United Nations and of any non-member State to which an invitation to sign has been addressed by the General Assembly.

The present Convention shall be ratified, and the instruments of ratification shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

After 1 January 1950, the present Convention may be acceded to on behalf of any Member of the United Nations and of any non-member State which has received an invitation as aforesaid.

Instruments of accession shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Article XII

Any Contracting Party may at any time, by notification addressed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, extend the application of the present Convention to all or any of the territories for the conduct of whose foreign relations that Contracting Party is responsible.

Article XIII

On the day when the first twenty instruments of ratification or accession have been deposited, the Secretary-General shall draw up a procès-verbal, and transmit a copy thereof to each Member of the United Nations and to each of the non-member States contemplated in article XI.

The present Convention shall come into force on the ninetieth day following the date of deposit of the twentieth instrument of ratification or accession.

Any ratification or accession effected subsequent to the latter date shall become effective on the ninetieth day following the deposit of the instrument of ratification or accession.

Article XIV

The present Convention shall remain in effect for a period of ten years as from the date of its coming into force.

It shall thereafter remain in force for successive periods of five years for such Contracting Parties as have not denounced it at least six months before the expiration of the current period.

Denunciation shall be effected by a written notification addressed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Article XV

If, as a result of denunciations, the number of Parties to the present Convention should become less than sixteen, the Convention shall cease to be in force as from the date on which the last of these denunciations shall become effective.

Article XVI

A request for the revision of the present Convention may be made at any time by any Contracting Party by means of a notification in writing addressed to the Secretary-General.

The General Assembly shall decide upon the steps, if any, to be taken in respect of such request.

Article XVII

The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall notify all Members of the United Nations and the non-member States contemplated in article XI of the following:

(a) Signatures, ratifications and accessions received in accordance with article XI ;

(b) Notifications received in accordance with article XII ;

(c) The date upon which the present Convention comes into force in accordance with article XIII ;

(d) Denunciations received in accordance with article XIV ;

(e) The abrogation of the Convention in accordance with article XV ;

(f) Notifications received in accordance with article XVI.

Article XVIII

The original of the present Convention shall be deposited in the archives of the United Nations.

A certified copy of the Convention shall be transmitted to each Member of the United Nations and to each of the non-member States contemplated in article XI.

Article XIX

The present Convention shall be registered by the Secretary-General of the United Nations on the date of its coming into force.

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Forensic Architecture | Restituting Evidence: 1904-1908 Genocide & Reparations in German Colonial Namibiahttps://forensic-architecture.org/investigation/restituting-evidence-genocide-and-reparations-in-german-colonial-namibia-phase-1

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Forensic Architecture | Living Archaeology in the Israeli Occupied Gaza Ghetto, with 2023 Updatehttps://forensic-architecture.org/investigation/living-archaeology-in-gaza/#updates

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