Billo_Really, et al,
Hummm! I'm not entirely sure you understand the issue.
This is the age old question as to which came first: The "Chicken" or the "Egg?"
The question as to which side bends first and compromises is a paradox.
Oh, shut up! This has nothing to do with compromise. It is illegal to hold onto land seized in a war. Occupations are supposed to be temporary. This ones been going on almost 50 years. It is the cause of all the violence. In order to end the violence, you have to stop what is causing it. In this case, the occupation and the immoral, illegal blockade of Gaza, which is "collective punishment" against an entire population of people, which makes that, a war crime.
(COMMENT)
Your comment that "It is illegal to hold onto land seized in a war" is somewhat carelessly phrased.
First, Prior to 1967, there was no such law. In fact, other than the Westphalian Compact, a vast majority of territorial acquisitions were made either under the claim of "Discovery" or "Conquest;" both of which were legitimate, and --- arguably --- still are. There is nothing in the Charter that stipulates "the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war." What the Charter says [
which is applicable (Article 2(4)] is: "refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state."
In 1967, the War of Independence (the Arab-Israeli War of 1948-49) was unresolved; merely under the ceasefire by Armistice. UN
Security Council Resolution 242 used that phrasing: "inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war." It is somewhat ambiguous. It does not specify which nations to which it pertains; nor does it specify which territory to which it pertains. Certainly, the West Bank was sovereign Jordanian Territory (not Palestine and not Palestinian). And in that case, the matter was settled in the
1994 Treaty of Peace between the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the State of Israel --- when the international boundary between Israel and Jordan was delimited in Article 3 of that treaty. But Resolution 242 did not specify if it was addressing the Jordanian acquisition by force of the West Bank in 1949 and the annexation in 1950, or the Israeli occupation in 1967, for which there was no annexation (not then and not now). There is a similar set of circumstances pertaining to the Gaza Strip, which was under Egyptian Military Administration, which was resolved in
1979 Treaty of Peace between the Arab Republic of Egypt and the State of Israel, when the permanent international boundary between Israel and Egypt was recognized in Article 2 of that treaty. As it pertains to the Palestinian holding today, west Band and Gaza Strip, Resolution 242 is simply not applicable.
In order to end the violence, you have to stop what is causing it. In this case, the occupation and the immoral, illegal blockade of Gaza, which is "collective punishment" against an entire population of people, which makes that, a war crime.
(COMMENT)
While I do agree impart that the "PALESTINIANS" want to end the violence, they have to stop causing it, there is no issue of "collective punishment" (
Rule 103 Customary International Humanitarian Law):
Article 50 Hague Regulations,
ARTICLE 50. No general penalty, pecuniary or otherwise, shall be inflicted upon the population on account of the acts of individuals for which they cannot be regarded as jointly and severally responsible.
Article 87 Third Geneva Convention,
ARTICLE 87
Collective punishment for individual acts, corporal punishments, imprisonment in premises without daylight and, in general, any form of torture or cruelty, are forbidden.
Article 33, Fourth Geneva Convention,
ARTICLE 33 No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited.
Pillage is prohibited.
Reprisals against protected persons and their property are prohibited.
Article 75(2)(d) Additional Protocol I,
Article 75 -- Fundamental guarantees
2. The following acts are and shall remain prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever, whether committed by civilian or by military agents:
(d) collective punishments; and
Article 4(2)(b) Additional Protocol II,
Article 4 -- Fundamental guarantees
1. All persons who do not take a direct part or who have ceased to take part in hostilities, whether or not their liberty has been restricted, are entitled to respect for their person, honour and convictions and religious practices. They shall in all circumstances be treated humanely, without any adverse distinction. It is prohibited to order that there shall be no survivors.
2. Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, the following acts against the persons referred to in paragraph 1 are and shall remain prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever:
(b) collective punishments;
With the possible exception of Article 33 --- Reprisals against protected persons and their property are prohibited --- which can be justified in terms of security countermeasure, Israel is not in violation of the Rule 103 Collective Punishment prohibitions. Security countermeasures and actions taken to prevent hostile forces from benefiting in some way from normal freedoms is not considered a "collective punishment." Israel is no taking reprisals against Palestinians. Israel is not, on mass involved in:
(Article 3)
(a) violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture;
(b) taking of hostages;
(c) outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment;
(d) the passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court, affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples.
You have no right to deny them their inalienable rights. No right to subject them to martial law. No right to transfer your population onto their land. The West Bank is not your property and it never will be your property. Eventually, you will be removed from the West Bank just like Hitler was removed from Poland.
(COMMENT)
Israel will probably leave the West Bank to its own devises in the future. Bust as long as the Palestinians pose a tactical, operational or strategic threat to the peace and security of Israel and it citizenry, it will probably remain under occupation. Most experts agree that
Article 6 of the GCIV restricts the length of time that most of GCIV applies to
one year after the close of military operations. It has no been the case that military operations, pursuant to the 1948/49 War of Independence has closed. There are still several Palestinian Irregular Armed Forces (PIAF) still conducting active operations against Israel. Since both the Jihadist of the Islamic Resistance Movement and the various terrorist and Fedayeen operating in the name of the PLO are still engaged in hostile activity, the occupation under international humanitarian law will continue. As of yet, the Palestinian Leadership have yet to cease anti-Israeli operations. In the last
(nearly) seven decades, there has not been a year of peace
(a close to military operations).
Most Respectfully,
R