Following the Six-Day War of 1967, when Israeli forces claimed victory over the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, the Old City of Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights; the United Nations passed Resolution 242, calling for lasting peace in exchange for Israel’s withdrawal from captured territories. However, Resolution 242 did not explicitly require Israel to withdraw from its captured territories, and they began to expand Jerusalem’s municipal borders, taking in large areas of open land. They restricted the boundaries of Palestinian neighborhoods en masse, limiting the growth of Palestinian communities. Since that time, Palestinians have been systemically disenfranchised. The Israeli legal landscape has imposed a permit regime over Palestinians living in and around the West Bank, which, according to a report by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, was home to some 2.9 million people as of 2019.
Due to the expense and difficulty of obtaining building permits, Palestinians are forced to build illegally, subjecting their homes, businesses, and communities to demolition at any time for any reason. According to a report by Human Rights Watch, an estimated 85% of Palestinian houses in East Jerusalem are considered illegal. Between 2000 and 2007, 94% of Palestinian permit requests in the West Bank and East Jerusalem were denied by Israeli authorities. Human Rights Watch further asserts that “for every building permit application granted to Palestinians by the Israeli authorities during this period, 18 Palestinian structures were demolished, and demolition orders were issued for 55 more. The UN reported in 2009 that Israeli authorities had delayed granting permits or had ordered the demolition of at least 25 schools in the West Bank with over 6,000 students.”
In theory, the destruction of Palestinian property runs afoul of Article 53 of the Fourth Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in time of War of 12 August 1949: “Any destruction by the Occupying Power of real or personal property belonging individually or collectively to private persons, or to the State, or to other public authorities, or to social or co-operative organizations, is prohibited, except where such destruction is rendered absolutely necessary by military operations.” It is arguable that Israel has ignored this Article altogether. At best, they have skirted the law via the Military Operations clause. Repeated Israeli demolitions have permanently displaced Palestinian families from their communities in the West Bank on the grounds that the communities are located inside “closed military zones.” In contrast to the lived experience of Palestinian civilians, Israeli occupants of the West Bank and East Jerusalem have experienced no systemic legal roadblocks to the expansion of their infrastructure. Jewish settlers have been able to construct settlement outposts and infrastructure without proper permits, having their construction projects retroactively approved by Israeli authorities rather than demolished.
In addition to systemic discrimination through infrastructure legislation, Palestinian freedom of movement has been severely attacked by a string of Kafkaesque laws restricting residency and citizenship. According to an article by Joseph Krauss at the Associated Press, Palestinians born in east Jerusalem are automatically granted a form of permanent residency (not citizenship). However, their residency can be revoked if they live outside the city for any extended period of time. They can apply for Israeli citizenship, but the bureaucratic process is expensive and time-consuming, often lasting months or years. Additionally, most Palestinians are not interested in becoming Israeli citizens as they view the Israeli military as an occupying force. In contrast, Jews born in east Jerusalem are given immediate citizenship, and Jews immigrating from abroad are always eligible for citizenship.
The Israeli permit regime also controls Palestinians’ day-to-day travel and freedom of movement. As of 2017, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the West Bank was home to 44 permanently staffed checkpoints, 52 partially staffed checkpoints, and 376 roadblocks, earth mounds and road gates. Palestinian freedom of movement is restricted via a rigorous unjust permit system. The permit system and restrictions on movement have put an undue burden on the ability of Palestinians to cultivate land and engage in economic development. Access restrictions to privately-owned Palestinian lands have made agriculture and herding virtually impossible, increasing communities’ dependency on humanitarian aid. According to the OCHA, “Under international law, Israel has the obligation to facilitate the free movement of Palestinians within the [occupied Palestinian territories], including East Jerusalem. Exceptions to this obligation are recognized only for imperative reasons of security and only in response to specific security threats. The sections of the Barrier running inside the West Bank, together with the associated gate and permit regime, are unlawful under international law.”
Due to the discriminatory nature of the Israeli permit regime via the eviction and demolition of Palestinian residences and businesses; the denial of citizenship and the fickle nature of residency; and the restrictions of freedom of movement via blockades and permit processes, I assert that Israel offends both Article 53 of the IV Geneva Convention and Article 7, section 1, clauses d and h of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. According to Article 7 of the Rome Statute, crimes against humanity is defined as follows: “For the purpose of this Statute, “crime against humanity” means any of the following acts when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack… (d) [d]eportation or forcible transfer of population… (h) [p]ersecution against any identifiable group or collectivity on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender,… or other grounds that are universally recognized as impermissible under international law, in connection with any act referred to in this paragraph or any crime within the jurisdiction of the Court.”
While it may be argued that Israel is acting in self-defense against the likes of Hamas and radical members of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, I do not believe that justifies violating the human rights of an entire civilian population. Palestinians are stateless and do not have a formal military with which to defend their rights as people; they have no legal representation within the very legislatures that give them “permission to exist;” and the world’s largest military superpowers, including the United States and much of the EU, have chosen to back Israel, providing them with funding, weapons, and intelligence. I do not want to justify or endorse any form of violent retaliation committed by Palestinians against Israelis, far from it, but that doesn’t mean I don’t understand the Palestinian perspective. They have been backed into a corner and have no avenues for legal recourse. If they cannot engage in a legal defense of themselves through the proper channels of society, what course of action is left for them?
Photo courtesy of Aveedibya Dey at Unsplash