UN Court Condemns Israel’s ‘Occupation’
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
THE HAGUE/JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned a nonbinding opinion by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) after it said Friday that Israel’s presence in the Palestinian-occupied territories is “unlawful.”
The 15 judges of the ICJ, the United Nations top court in The Hague, also called on Israel to halt settlement construction immediately.
Netanyahu was quick to denounce the unprecedented, sweeping condemnation of Israel’s rule over the lands it captured 57 years ago.
He said the territories are part of the Jewish people’s historic “homeland.” That view was shared by nearly 1,000 pro-Israel Christians from 45 countries who expressed their “opposition to the partition of the land” in a declaration.
The Christians condemned the ICJ for allowing the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to express its views on the legality of Israel’s control over Judea and Samaria, also known as the West Bank.
“We, Christian representatives of our nations from all over the world, declare and testify that the Land of Israel includes East Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria,” they said in a declaration delivered to the ICH. “These areas belong indisputably to Israel and are ultimately the inheritance of the Jewish people. Dividing the Land is in conflict with the Bible and the will of the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of Israel,” they added.
IMPACTING WORLD OPINION
Worthy News reported earlier that the document was signed in The Hague by Christian leaders and political representatives, including former U.S. congresswoman Michele Bachmann and Pastor Satish Kumar, the head of Calvary Temple Church in Hyderabad, India’s largest evangelical congregation.
Yet Friday’s ICJ ruling was due to further impact international opinion and fueled moves for unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state.
The ICJ pointed to a comprehensive list of policies, including the building and expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.
Judges also questioned Israel’s use of the area’s natural resources, the “annexation and imposition” of permanent control over lands, and “discriminatory policies” against Palestinians, all of which the court said “violated international law.”
The ICJ argued that Israel had “no right to sovereignty in the territories” and said it was “violating international laws against acquiring territory by force” and
“impeding Palestinians’ right to self-determination.”
In a sign of more pressure on Israel, it said other nations were obliged not to “render aid or assistance in maintaining” Israel’s presence in the territories.
ISRAEL FACING ATTACKS
According to a summary of the more than 80-page opinion read out by court President Nawaf Salam, Israel must end settlement construction immediately and remove existing settlements.
Critics said the ICJ conveniently overlooked the “historical and legal mess” that is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“The West Bank and east Jerusalem, captured by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War—a defensive conflict, mind you—have never been sovereign Palestinian territories. But why bother with such details when you can make sweeping declarations from the comfort of The Hague? Do you prefer your judgments to be based on convenience rather than facts?” The Jerusalem Post newspaper commented.
The ICJ “also seems to have a selective memory regarding security concerns. Israeli settlements act as crucial buffers against the kind of aggressions that tend to happen when your neighbors aren’t exactly sending you fruit baskets,” wrote Zvika Klein, editor-in-chief at The Jerusalem Post.
“Judea and Samaria,” as the Biblical description of what is also known as the West Bank, “have been a breeding ground for terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians. Suggesting that Israel dismantle these settlements without any security guarantees is like telling someone to take off their bulletproof vest in the middle of a shootout,” he added.
Yet he isn’t surprised by the ICJ’s opinion. “The U.N. General Assembly’s request to the ICJ [to give a non-binding advisory opinion] is just another chapter in its long history of anti-Israel bias. Israel gets condemned by U.N. bodies more often than a bad restaurant on [review site] Yelp.”