Palestina versus Israel (gehi AEB + NATO, Pentagonoa eta EB) (24)

Palestina versus Israel (gehi AEB + NATO, Pentagonoa eta EB) (24)

GAZA: Poesia, nazioarteko legeria eta autodeterminazio-eskubidea¹

Hasiera

Segida:

A Bilingual Poem from Gaza²

December 14, 2023

by  Refaat Alaree3

translated by D. P. Snyder

Illustration by fran_kie / Adobe Stock

If I Must Die

If I must die,
you must live
to tell my story
to sell my things
to buy a piece of cloth
and some strings,
(make it white with a long tail)
so that a child, somewhere in Gaza
while looking heaven in the eye
awaiting his dad who left in a blaze —
and bid no one farewell
not even to his flesh
not even to himself —
sees the kite, my kite you made, flying up above,
and thinks for a moment an angel is there
bringing back love.
If I must die
let it bring hope,
let it be a story.

oooooo

Niz@NizMhani

Dr Ralph Wilde, Submission of the League of Arab States on Palestine,…

Oral submission of the League of Arab States, by Dr Ralph Wilde, Senior Counsel and Advocate, in the “Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practi…

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Transkripzioa:

0:00

to Mr Ralph wild you have the floor

0:05

Sir Mr President distinguished members

0:08

of the court it’s a great honor and

0:10

privilege to appear before you and to

0:13

represent the league of Arab

0:15

states the Palestinian people have been

0:18

denied the exercise of their legal right

0:21

to

0:23

self-determination through the more than

0:25

Century long violent Colonial racist

0:29

effort to establish a nation state

0:32

exclusively for the Jewish people in the

0:35

land of mandatory

0:37

Palestine when this began after the

0:40

first world war the Jewish population of

0:43

that land was

0:45

11% forcibly implementing Zionism in

0:49

this demographic context has necessarily

0:53

involved the extermination or force

0:56

displacement of some of the non-jewish

0:59

Palestinian

1:00

population the exercise of domination

1:03

over and subjugation dispossession and

1:08

immiseration of remaining non-jewish

1:11

Palestinians the immigration to that

1:13

land of Jewish people regardless of any

1:16

direct personal link and the denial of

1:20

Palestinian refugees the right to return

1:23

all operating through a racist

1:26

distinction privileging Jewish people

1:29

over non-w Jewish Palestinian

1:31

people this has necessitated serious

1:35

violations of all the fundamental Yos

1:38

kogan’s and erga omn Norms of

1:41

international law the right of

1:44

self-determination the prohibitions on

1:47

aggression genocide crimes against

1:50

humanity racial discrimination apartheid

1:54

and torture and the core protections of

1:58

IHL today I I will address first

2:01

violations of international law arising

2:05

out of the regime of racial domination

2:08

apartheid perpetrated against the

2:10

Palestinian people across the entire

2:13

land of historic

2:15

Palestine and then second the

2:19

existential illegality of Israel’s

2:22

occupation of the Palestinian Gaza Strip

2:25

and West Bank including East Jerusalem

2:28

since 1967

2:30

as a necessary prerequisite I must begin

2:34

with this special right granted to the

2:36

Palestinian people in the league

2:39

Covenant the legal right of

2:41

self-determination of the Palestinian

2:43

people originates in the sacred trust

2:47

obligations of article 22 of the Lee

2:50

Covenant part of the versai

2:52

treaty Palestine an A-Class mandate

2:56

under British colonial rule was after

2:59

the first world war supposed to have its

3:03

existence as an independent state

3:06

provisionally

3:07

recognized a sue generous right of

3:12

self-determination the UK and other

3:14

members of the leag council attempted to

3:17

bypass this incorporating the 1917 Bala

3:21

declaration commitment to establishing a

3:24

national home for the Jewish people in

3:27

Palestine into the instrument

3:30

stipulating how the Mandate would

3:33

operate however the council had no legal

3:36

power to bypass the Covenant in this way

3:40

it acted ultrav virus and the relevant

3:43

Provisions were legally

3:46

void there was and is no legal basis in

3:51

that mandate instrument for either a

3:54

specifically Jewish state in Palestine

3:57

or the UK’s failure to discharge the

4:01

sacred trust obligation to implement

4:04

Palestinian

4:08

self-determination after the second

4:09

world war a self-determination right

4:12

applicable to Colonial peoples generally

4:16

crystallized in international law for

4:19

the Palestinian people this essentially

4:22

corresponded to and supplemented the

4:25

pre-existing Covenant right regarding

4:28

the same single

4:30

territory the 1947 proposal to partition

4:34

Palestine was contrary to this the Arab

4:38

rejection and affirmation of the legal

4:41

status quo in 1948 then Palestine was

4:46

legally a single territory with a single

4:50

population enjoying a right of

4:52

self-determination on a unitary

4:56

basis despite this a state of Israel

5:00

specifically for Jewish people was

5:02

proclaimed in

5:04

1948 by those controlling

5:07

78% more than 34s of Palestine

5:12

accompanied by the force displacement of

5:15

a significant number of the non-jewish

5:17

Palestinian population the nacba

5:22

catastrophe this illegal secession was

5:25

an egregious violation of Palestinian

5:28

self-determination

5:30

Israel’s statehood was recognized and

5:32

Israel admitted as a UN member despite

5:37

this

5:38

illegality Israel is not the legal

5:41

continuation or successor of the

5:44

Mandate this violation of Palestinian

5:47

self-determination is ongoing and

5:50

unresolved two key elements are First

5:55

Palestinian people not displaced from

5:57

the land proclaimed to be of Israel in

6:00

48 and their

6:03

descendants have been forced to live as

6:05

Citizens presently they constitute

6:09

17.2% of a state conceived to be of and

6:14

for another racial group under the

6:17

domination of that group necessarily

6:20

treated as second class because of their

6:24

race second Palestinian people displaced

6:28

from that land land and their

6:31

descendants cannot

6:34

return these are serious breaches of the

6:37

right of

6:38

self-determination the prohibitions of

6:40

racial discrimination and apartheid and the

6:43

right of return they must end

6:48

immediately as if this ongoing nacba was

6:52

not catastrophic enough in

6:55

1967 Israel captured the remaining 22%

6:59

of of historic Palestine the Gaza Strip

7:02

and West Bank including East Jerusalem

7:05

the

7:06

naxa it’s maintained that use of force

7:10

to remain in control for the 57-year

7:14

period

7:15

since for more than half a century then

7:19

a state defined to be of and for Jewish

7:22

people

7:24

exclusively has governed the entire land

7:27

of historic Palestine and and the

7:29

Palestinian people there and the regime

7:32

of racial domination apartheid and denying

7:36

return has been extended

7:39

throughout in the case of Palestinians

7:41

living in the occupied territory this

7:44

has involved the same serious violations

7:47

of international law supplemented by

7:50

serious violations of norms applicable

7:53

in occupied

7:55

territory indeed these people are

7:58

subject to an an even more extreme form

8:01

of racist domination as they aren’t even

8:05

citizens of the state exercising

8:08

authority over

8:09

them even in East Jerusalem which Israel

8:13

has purported to Annex the majority

8:16

non-jewish Palestinian residents don’t

8:19

have

8:20

citizenship whereas Jewish residents

8:23

including illegal settlers are

8:26

citizens just as in territorial Israel

8:30

in occupied territory these serious

8:33

violations concerning how Israel

8:36

exercises authority over the Palestinian

8:39

people must end

8:43

immediately however here a more

8:47

fundamental matter must also be

8:51

addressed the illegality of the exercise

8:55

of authority

8:58

itself the enduring Palestinian right of

9:01

self-determination means that the

9:03

Palestinian people and the state of

9:06

Palestine not Israel are sovereign over

9:10

the territory Israel captured in ‘

9:13

67 for Israel the land is extr

9:16

Territorial and given what I said about

9:19

the Mandate territory over which it has

9:22

no legal Sovereign

9:25

entitlement despite this Israel has

9:29

purported to Annex East Jerusalem and

9:32

taken various actions there and in the

9:34

rest of the West Bank constituting deure

9:38

and de facto purported annexation

9:41

including implanting

9:43

settlements it is Israeli policy that

9:47

Israel should be not only the exclusive

9:51

authority over the entire land between

9:53

the river and the sea but also the

9:56

exclusive Sovereign Authority there

10:00

there this constitutes a complete

10:04

repudiation of Palestinian

10:06

self-determination as a legal right

10:09

since it empties the right entirely of

10:13

any territorial

10:16

content actualizing this through de

10:19

facto and deor purported annexation is

10:23

first a serious violation of Palestinian

10:26

self-determination and second

10:31

because it’s a uh enabled through the

10:35

use of force a violation of the

10:37

prohibition on the purported acquisition

10:40

of territory through the use of force in

10:43

the law on the use of force and so an

10:47

aggression serious violations of further

10:50

areas of law regulating the conduct of

10:53

the occupation are also being

10:56

perpetrated notably the prohibitions on

10:59

planting settlements and altering unless

11:02

absolutely prevented the legal political

11:05

social and religious statu

11:08

quo the occupation is therefore

11:11

existentially illegal because of its use

11:15

to actualize purported

11:18

annexation to end this serious

11:21

illegality it must be terminated Israel

11:24

must renounce all sovereignty claims and

11:28

all settlements must be removed

11:32

immediately however this is not the only

11:34

basis on which the occupation’s

11:37

existential legality must be

11:40

addressed we need to delve deeper into

11:43

both the law of

11:45

self-determination and the law on the

11:47

use of

11:48

force beginning with

11:51

self-determination this right when

11:53

applied to the Palestinian people in the

11:56

territory Israel captured in ‘ 67

11:59

is a right to be entirely self-governing

12:03

free from Israeli

12:05

domination consequently the Palestinian

12:09

people have a legal right to the

12:11

immediate end of the

12:14

occupation and Israel has a correlative

12:17

legal duty to immediately terminate the

12:21

occupation this right exists and

12:25

operates simply and exclusively because

12:29

the Palestinian people are entitled to

12:31

it it does not depend on others agreeing

12:35

to its

12:37

realization it is a

12:39

right it’s a repudiation of trusteeship

12:43

whereby colonial peoples were ostensibly

12:46

to be granted freedom only if and when

12:49

they were deemed ready because of their

12:52

stage of development determined by the

12:55

racist standard of

12:57

civilization the anti Colonial

12:59

self-determination rule replaced this

13:03

with a right based on the automatic

13:06

immediate entitlement of all people to

13:10

freedom without

13:13

preconditions in the words of general

13:15

assembly

13:16

1514 inadequacy of preparedness should

13:20

never serve as a pretext for delaying

13:25

Independence some suggest that the

13:28

Palestinian people were offered and

13:30

rejected deals that could have ended the

13:33

occupation and therefore Israel can

13:36

maintain it pending a

13:38

settlement even assuming arguendo the

13:42

veracity of this account the deals

13:45

involved a further loss of The Sovereign

13:48

territory of the Palestinian

13:50

People Israel canot lawfully demand

13:54

concessions on Palestinian rights as the

13:58

price for ending its impediment to

14:01

Palestinian

14:03

Freedom this would mean Israel using

14:06

Force to coerce the Palestinian people

14:09

to give up some of their peremptory

14:12

legal

14:13

rights illegal in the law on the use of

14:16

force and necessarily voiding the

14:20

relevant terms of any agreement

14:23

reached the Palestinian people are

14:26

legally entitled to object a further

14:29

loss of land over which they have an

14:33

exclusive legal peremptory

14:36

right any such rejection makes no

14:40

difference to Israel’s immediate legal

14:43

obligation to end the

14:47

occupation turning to the law on the use

14:49

of

14:50

force Israel’s control over the

14:53

Palestinian territory since 67 as a

14:56

military occupation is an ongo goinging

14:59

use of force as such its existential

15:03

legality is determined by the law on the

15:06

use of force as a general matter beyond

15:09

the specific issue of

15:12

annexation Israel captured the Gaza

15:15

Strip and West Bank from Egypt and

15:17

Jordan in the war it launched against

15:20

them and

15:21

Syria it claimed to be acting in

15:24

self-defense anticipating a non-

15:27

immediately imminent

15:29

attack the war was over after 6 days

15:33

peace treaties between Israel and Egypt

15:36

and Jordan was subsequently

15:39

adopted despite this Israel maintained

15:42

control of the territory continuing the

15:45

use of force enabling its

15:48

capture Israel’s 67 war was illegal in

15:52

the Yad Bellum even assuming arguendo

15:56

its claim of a feared attack

15:59

States can’t lawfully use force in non

16:03

immediately imminent anticipatory

16:07

self-defense

16:09

alternatively assuming again arguendo

16:12

that the war was

16:13

lawful the justification ended after 6

16:18

days however the Yos ad Bellum

16:21

requirements continued to apply to the

16:25

occupation as itself A continuing use of

16:30

force in 1967 with self-determination

16:34

well established in international law

16:37

states could not lawfully use Force to

16:41

retain control over a self-determination

16:45

unit captured in war unless the legal

16:49

test justifying the initial use of force

16:53

also Justified on the same basis the use

16:58

of for force in retaining

17:01

control moreover this justification

17:04

would need to

17:06

continue not only in the immediate

17:09

aftermath but for more than half a

17:13

century

17:15

manifestly This legal test has not been

17:19

met Israel’s exercise of control over

17:22

the Gaza Strip and West Bank through the

17:25

use of force has been illegal in the at

17:28

Bellum since the capture of the

17:31

territory or at least very soon after

17:36

afterwards the occupation is therefore

17:39

again existentially illegal in the law

17:42

on the use of force and

17:45

aggression this time as a general matter

17:48

Beyond illegality specific to

17:52

annexation to terminate this serious

17:54

violation the occupation must likewise

17:57

end in

18:00

immediately what of Israel’s current

18:02

military action in

18:04

Gaza this is not a war that began in

18:09

October

18:11

2023 it’s a drastic scaling up of the

18:15

force exercised there and in the West

18:18

Bank on a continual basis since

18:23

67 a justification for a new phase in an

18:27

ongoing illegal use of force cannot be

18:32

constructed solely out of the

18:34

consequences of violent resistance to

18:38

that illegal use of

18:40

force otherwise an illegal use of force

18:43

would be rendered lawful because those

18:46

subject to it violently resisted

18:49

circular logic with a perverse

18:53

outcome more generally Israel cannot

18:56

lawfully use Force to control control

18:58

the Palestinian territory for security

19:01

purposes pending an agreement providing

19:04

security

19:06

guarantees states can only lawfully use

19:09

Force outside their borders in extremely

19:13

narrow

19:15

circumstances beyond that they must

19:18

address they must address security

19:20

concerns non

19:24

forcibly the USA UK and Zambia suggest

19:28

here that there is a su generous

19:31

applicable legal framework an Israeli

19:35

Palestinian Lex

19:37

specialis this somehow supersedes the

19:41

rules of international law determining

19:44

whether the occupation is existentially

19:47

lawful instead we have a new rule

19:51

justifying the occupation until there is

19:54

a peace agreement meeting Israeli

19:56

security needs

20:00

this is the law as these states would

20:03

like it to be not the law as it

20:07

is it has no basis in resolution 242

20:13

Oslo or any other resolutions or

20:17

agreements

20:18

actually you are being invited to do

20:22

away with the very operation of some of

20:26

the fundamental peremptory rules of

20:29

international law

20:32

itself as a result the matters these

20:35

rules conceive as rights vested in the

20:38

Palestinian people would be realized

20:42

only if agreement is reached and only on

20:46

the basis of such

20:48

agreement at Best if there is an

20:51

agreement this means one that need not

20:54

be compatible with Palestinian

20:57

peremptory legal rights determined only

21:01

by the acute power imbalance in Israel’s

21:05

favor at worst if there is no

21:08

agreement this means that the indefinite

21:11

continuation of Israeli rule over the

21:14

Palestinian people in the

21:16

opt on the basis of racist Supremacy and

21:20

a claim to sovereignty would be

21:25

lawful this is an affront

21:28

to the international rule of law to the

21:32

UN Charter imperative to settle disputes

21:36

in Conformity with international

21:39

law and to your judicial function as

21:43

Guardians of the international legal

21:47

system a final potential basis sometimes

21:50

invoked to justify continuing the

21:52

occupation should be

21:54

addressed occupation and human rights

21:57

law applicable to illegal and lawful

22:01

occupations

22:03

alike oblige Israel to address security

22:06

threats in occupied

22:09

territory however they only regulate the

22:12

conduct of an occupation when it exists

22:16

they don’t also provide a legal basis

22:19

for that existence

22:21

itself existential legality is

22:24

determined by the law of

22:26

self-determination and the yos Bellum

22:29

only there is no backdoor legal basis

22:33

for Israel to maintain the occupation

22:36

through the imperatives of occupation

22:38

and human rights

22:41

law in sum the occupation of the

22:44

Palestinian Gaza Strip and West Bank

22:47

including East Jerusalem is

22:49

existentially illegal on two mutually

22:53

reinforcing

22:55

bases first the law on the use of force

22:59

here the occupation is illegal both as a

23:02

use of force without valid

23:05

justification and because it’s enabling

23:07

an illegal purported

23:10

annexation as such it is an

23:13

aggression second the law of

23:16

self-determination here it’s illegal

23:18

again because of the association with

23:21

illegal purported

23:22

annexation and also more generally

23:26

because it is quite simply

23:28

an exercise of authority over the

23:31

Palestinian people that by its very

23:34

nature violates their right to

23:38

Freedom this multifaceted existential

23:42

illegality involving serious violations

23:44

of peremptory Norms has two key

23:48

consequences first the occupation must

23:51

end Israel must renounce its claim to

23:54

sovereignty over the Palestinian

23:56

territory all settle must be removed

24:00

immediately this is required to end the

24:03

illegality to discharge the positive

24:06

obligation to enable immediate

24:08

Palestinian

24:10

self-administration and because Israel

24:12

lacks any legal entitlement to exercise

24:17

Authority second in the absence of the

24:20

occupation ending

24:23

necessarily everything Israel does in

24:26

the Palestinian territory

24:28

lacks a valid International legal basis

24:32

and is therefore subject to the Namibia

24:36

exception

24:37

invalid not only those things violating

24:41

the law regulating the conduct of the

24:44

occupation those Norms entitle and

24:47

require Israel to do certain things but

24:50

this doesn’t alter the more fundamental

24:53

position from the law on the use of

24:55

force and

24:56

self-determination that Israel lacks any

25:00

valid authority to do

25:02

anything and whatever it does is illegal

25:07

even if compliant with or pursuant to

25:11

the conduct regulatory

25:15

rules I will close by quoting

25:18

Palestinian academic and poet rafat

25:22

allara⁴ from his final poem posted 36

25:25

days before he was killed by Israel in

25:29

Gaza on the 6th of December

25:36

2023 if I must die you must live to tell

25:42

my

25:43

story if I must die let it bring

25:48

hope let it be a

25:52

story thank you for your

25:55

attention I thank the delegation of the

25:57

the Arab League for its

26:00

presentation and before I invite the

26:02

next delegation to make its oral

26:04

statement the court will observe a break

26:07

for 10 minutes the sitting is

26:26

suspended

26:36

for

oooooo

Khalissee@Kahlissee