{"id":34016,"date":"2024-03-02T17:37:17","date_gmt":"2024-03-02T16:37:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/?p=34016"},"modified":"2024-03-02T17:40:28","modified_gmt":"2024-03-02T16:40:28","slug":"last-days-of-hearings-at-the-international-court-of-justice-on-the-israeli-occupation-of-palestine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/?p=34016","title":{"rendered":"Last Days of Hearings at the International Court of Justice on the Israeli Occupation of Palestine"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

. . HUMAN RIGHTS . . <\/p>\n

An article from the United Nations Regional Information Centre for Western Europe<\/a><\/p>\n

The advisory opinion requested by the United Nations General Assembly from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in December 2022 led to hearings that began on 19 February (read more about the first few days of the hearing in our\u00a0first article <\/a> and continued until 26 February, with\u00a052 states and three international organisations\u00a0<\/a> presenting their opinions.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nPhoto copyright ICJ<\/center><\/p>\n

Iran Criticises \u201cInaction\u201d of the Security Council<\/strong><\/p>\n

The\u00a0Islamic Republic of Iran\u00a0highlighted the \u201cseriousness\u201d of the situation in Gaza on 22 February, pointing to \u201cthe inaction or insufficient action of the Security Council, if not the main, is one of the main causes of the prolonged occupation of the Palestinian territories. All the atrocities and crimes committed by the Israeli r\u00e9gime in the past almost 80 years are a consequence of such inaction. Even today, the Security Council is paralysed due to the stalemate caused by a certain permanent Member.\u201d<\/p>\n

Iran called for an end to cooperation in all its forms, whether \u201cpolitical, military, economic, or other\u201d, with Israel to prevent it from \u201ccontinuing its prolonged occupation,\u201d as well as for the \u201ccomplete termination of all its military operations in the Gaza Strip.\u201d<\/p>\n

Iraq and Jordan Demand End of Occupation<\/strong><\/p>\n

Iraq\u00a0argued for the ICJ\u2019s jurisdiction in the ongoing procedure, noting that the Court had already issued an\u00a0advisory opinion on the legal consequences arising from the construction of the wall in the Occupied Territories\u00a0<\/a> in 2004.
\nIn this opinion, the Court had determined that \u201cthe construction of the wall and the regime associated with it created on the ground a \u2018fait accompli\u2019 that could become permanent and, as such, amount to a de facto annexation,\u201d in violation of the Palestinians\u2019 right to self-determination.<\/p>\n

Baghdad also called for \u201cthe respect (\u2026) under any circumstance or in any place\u201d for the opinion rendered by the ICJ on 26 January in the context of South Africa\u2019s complaint against Israel for \u201cgenocide\u201d in Gaza, \u201cin order to stop the systematic killing machine against the Palestinian people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking for\u00a0Jordan, Ayman Safadi, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, spoke of the horrors of war in Gaza, where \u201cchildren are operated on without anaesthesia.\u201d He stated that \u201cin Gaza, Palestinians are dying by Israel\u2019s war. They are also dying from hunger and lack of medication, as Israel prevents the delivery of food and medicine in violation of international humanitarian law and in defiance of the provisional measures you have ordered. This aggression has to end and end immediately. Israel is acting and has been allowed to act in complete disregard of international law. That cannot continue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asserting that \u201cthe occupation is illegal and inhumane,\u201d he urged the Court to \u201crule that the Israeli occupation, the source of all evil, must end.\u201d<\/p>\n

13 Additional Countries Discuss Reparations<\/strong><\/p>\n

Visibly moved, Ali Ahmad Ebraheem S. Al-Dafiri, Ambassador of\u00a0Kuwait\u00a0to the Netherlands, stated that \u201cthe unprecedented violence in Gaza is a result of 57 years of illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories, and it must stop.\u201d Kuwait also demanded an end to the occupation and a negotiated two-state solution along the 1967 borders, with Jerusalem as its capital. It added that \u201cthe occupying Power is under the obligation to make full reparation for the injury caused by its occupation and discriminatory policies and practices.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lebanon\u00a0highlighted that the ICJ had already affirmed in 2004 in its opinion on the construction of the wall that Israel was \u201cobliged to return the lands, orchards, olive groves, and other real property seized to any natural or legal person.\u201d Lebanon added that Israel \u201cis also obliged to cease its violation of the right to self-determination of the Palestinian people, to end its occupation of the Palestinian territories, and to recognise the State of Palestine. And to provide reparations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Similarly,\u00a0Libya, Syria, Malaysia, Ireland, Namibia, Oman, Indonesia, Slovenia, Tunisia, Spain, and the Maldives\u00a0advocated for reparations through restitution or compensation. In total, 19 countries advocated for reparations during the six days of hearings.<\/p>\n

The United Kingdom urges the ICJ not to respond to the request for an advisory opinion.<\/strong><\/p>\n

On 23 February, the\u00a0United Kingdom\u00a0reiterated many of the arguments previously made in writing by the\u00a0United States,\u00a0Canada,\u00a0Fiji,\u00a0Hungary, and\u00a0Zambia, arguing for respect for the existing framework within the Security Council to allow for a negotiated solution to progress.
\nLondon went further, asking the Court not to issue a ruling due to the way the questions posed by the General Assembly were formulated. These two questions amount to \u201ctaking the entire Palestine question to be looked at by the highest court in the globe,\u201d as stated by the United States.<\/p>\n

According to the United Kingdom, the Court cannot interfere in a dispute between two parties, as mentioned in its 1975 advisory opinion on\u00a0Western Sahara<\/a>, without the consent of both parties.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, the Court could \u201cdraw legal conclusions on an incorrect factual basis\u201d due to not only the ongoing conflict but also the extent of the documentation required: \u201cthe entire factual record stretching back some 57 years and a United Nations dossier spanning nearly 30,000 pages.\u201d<\/p>\n

(continued in right column)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Question related to this article:<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n

\n

How can war crimes be documented, stopped, punished and prevented?<\/a> <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Presenting the Palestinian side of the Middle East, Is it important for a culture of peace?<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

(continued from left column)<\/p>\n

Finally, the United Kingdom believes that the framework established by the Security Council, with resolutions 242 and 338, envisions Israel\u2019s withdrawal from the Occupied Territories through negotiation, not a judicial decision.<\/p>\n

\u2026 while many countries defended the Court\u2019s jurisdiction<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ireland\u00a0condemns the 7 October attacks but believes that \u201cthese limits have been exceeded by Israel in its military response to the Hamas attack.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rossa Fanning, Attorney General of Ireland, stated that his country \u201cbelieves that clarification now, by this Court, of the international law issues raised by the prolonged occupation of the Palestinian territory will assist in providing a stable foundation upon which to build a just resolution\u201d of the conflict.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeveral States have suggested that this request for an advisory opinion is an attempt to resolve a bilateral dispute without the consent of one of the parties to that dispute. We very much regret that Israel has chosen not to engage with the subject matter of the request. (\u2026) However, in our view, the issue of the Occupied Palestinian Territory is directly of concern to the United Nations itself, and it goes much further than a mere bilateral dispute.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ICJ\u2019s jurisdiction was defended by many States, including\u00a0Norway, which emphasised a situation of \u201cde facto annexation\u201d in the Palestinian Territories,\u00a0Pakistan,\u00a0 Spain,\u00a0 Japan, and\u00a0China, which expressed its support \u201cfor the just cause of the Palestinian people.\u201d\u00a0 Switzerland\u00a0stated that \u201cIsrael has legitimate security concerns, but also the obligation to respect international law.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abdel Sattar Issa, Ambassador of\u00a0Lebanon\u00a0to the Netherlands, argued that \u201casking the Court not to intervene, not to give its advisory opinion in the name of a bilateral negotiation process to be protected, a political solution to be preserved, is a perverse argument that creates antagonism between the political and the legal when they are, in any society, including the international society, two complementary elements in dialectical relation. Law frames the political, prevents its drift, whether at the public or private level. Law guarantees a minimum of justice in relations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Similarly,\u00a0Syria\u00a0defended the Court\u2019s jurisdiction at a time when \u201cthe Palestinian people find themselves with no real protection.\u201d Ammar Al Arsan, Head of the Permanent Mission of the Syrian Arab Republic to the European Union in Brussels, stated, \u201cWe are here today to make sure that they \u2013 the occupiers \u2013 do not get away with impunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no peace process,\u201d according to Indonesia.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Indonesia\u00a0went further in opposing the argument made by the United States that the Court\u2019s advisory opinion could impact a negotiated peace process: \u201cFirst, there is no viable peace process to be undermined. Israel has been consistently obstructing a negotiated two-state solution that is in line with international law and relevant United Nations resolutions. (\u2026)<\/p>\n

After all, negotiation with someone holding a gun against your head is not a negotiation at all (\u2026). Just last November, Prime Minister Netanyahu even boasted, \u201cI\u2019m proud that I prevented the establishment of a Palestinian State\u201d.<\/p>\n

This argument was echoed by the\u00a0Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which includes 57 States: \u201cAre there ongoing negotiations between Israel and Palestine? The truth about this matter is that there are none. It is a myth that has been artificially maintained for a long time, but which, in light of events, has collapsed by the admission of the parties involved.\u201d<\/p>\n

Qatar advocates for labelling of Israel\u2019s practices as \u201capartheid.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Qatar\u2019s\u00a0position, outlined by Mutlaq Bin Majed Al-Qahtani, ambassador to the Netherlands, highlighted a \u201cgrowing perception in some quarters that international law applies to some, but not to others. That some peoples are seen as deserving of security, freedom and self-determination, but others are not. Some children are deemed worthy of the law\u2019s protection, but others are killed in their thousands. Qatar rejects such double standards.\u201d<\/p>\n

Qatar denounced violence that has become \u201cpart of the fabric of life for Palestinians even before the beginning of the occupation in 1967. And Gaza has always paid the highest price. In the 15 years before 7 October, Israeli military campaigns killed 5,365 Palestinians in Gaza, the majority of whom were undisputedly civilians.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ambassador mentioned the increase in violence in the West Bank and \u201cthe systematic persecution of human rights organisations and journalists,\u201d referring to the death of Shireen Abu Akleh from the Qatari channel Al Jazeera, \u201cmurdered by Israeli forces on 11 May 2022.\u201d<\/p>\n

Qatar urged the ICJ to label the occupation of the Palestinian Territories as an apartheid regime, an argument advanced by 25 participants in the hearings, so that the \u201cthe international community, including the General Assembly, can activate similar mechanisms for bringing about an end of the occupation as it did with the apartheid r\u00e9gime in South Africa. This is the surest path to truth, justice, and, yes, reconciliation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Three international organisations speak out.<\/strong><\/p>\n

On 26 February, the last day of hearings, the\u00a0Arab League\u00a0called for an end to the occupation and the \u201cimmediate\u201d withdrawal of all Israeli settlers from the Occupied Territories.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0OIC\u00a0concluded its presentation with these words: \u201cThe unfounded and unpunished violence that Israel exercises over the Palestinians leads to more violence in response. It is a vicious cycle, that of vengeance, which is always to the advantage of the strongest. This is the deadly cycle of violence that tragically unfolds before our eyes. To break it, an impartial third party, affirming the common standard with authority, is needed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finally, the\u00a0African Union\u00a0(AU) declared that \u201cIsrael\u2019s aggression against Gaza is nothing but a shameful attempt to create a new Nakba \u23af , a new catastrophe aimed at erasing the Palestinian presence in Palestine.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Court has entered into deliberation before issuing an advisory opinion that will be given at a later date.<\/p>\n

– – – – – –<\/p>\n

If you wish to make a comment on this article, you may write to coordinator@cpnn-world.org with the title “Comment on (name of article)” and we will put your comment on line. Because of the flood of spam, we have discontinued the direct application of comments.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

. . HUMAN RIGHTS . . An article from the United Nations Regional Information Centre for Western Europe The advisory opinion requested by the United Nations General Assembly from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in December 2022 led to hearings that began on 19 February (read more about the first few days of the … Continue reading Last Days of Hearings at the International Court of Justice on the Israeli Occupation of Palestine<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[76,13,93],"tags":[11,94],"class_list":["post-34016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-global","category-human-rights","category-united-nations","tag-global","tag-united-nations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=34016"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34016\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=34016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=34016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=34016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}