Like many others, I am shocked and saddened at the latest outbreak of armed violence in Israel-Palestine.
Unfortunately, there will never be peace for Israelis until there is justice for the Palestinians.
The current situation in Israel-Palestine today has implications for the world: Israel continues to occupy more and more Palestinian land, expanding and increasing Israeli settlements into what was originally designated by the United Nations as Palestinian territory.
This is contrary to international law: the Fourth Geneva Convention forbids the Occupying Power from transferring parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies. Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory are thus illegal.
Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory is also contrary to the United Nations Charter, which forbids the acquisition of territory by military means.
When the territory of Palestine was partitioned in 1947 to create the state of Israel, Israel was given 56 per cent, leaving 44 per cent for a future state of Palestine. In the 1948 war, Israel captured more territory, leaving just 22 per cent for the future state of Palestine. In the 1967 war, Israel captured this remaining territory also. Despite repeated resolutions in the United Nations Security Council and the General Assembly calling for Israel to withdraw from that 22 per cent of territory it occupied in 1967, Israel refuses to do so.
One has to ask how it can be acceptable for Israel to maintain and expand its military Occupation of Palestinian territory while it is unacceptable for Russia to occupy and acquire the Donbas region of Ukraine. The UN Charter forbids both.
The question remains: are we a society that believes in international law as the foundation of relations between countries, or are we not?
Read more: Day 10 of the latest Israel-Hamas war
Anne Morris
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