Crimes against humanity

Crimes against humanity

The Fourth Geneva Convention is supposed to protect civilians under military occupation. No violence to life or person is permitted; no cruelty or torture; no taking of hostages; no outrages upon personal dignity; no collective punishment, no sentencing or executions unless ordered by a properly constituted court affording all the judicial guarantees demanded by civilized peoples.

The quarrel is not between the Palestinians and Israel. It is between the international community and Israel.

In 2004 the International Court of Justice – the “principal judicial organ of the United Nations” – ruled that the Separation Wall is illegal and must be dismantled, and the Palestinians compensated for damage. Furthermore, said the ICJ, all states are under an obligation not to recognize the illegal situation resulting from the construction of the wall and to ensure Israel complies with international humanitarian law.
The Israelis are still building it. And America and Britain snigger and carry on handing out rewards to the psychopaths.
The quarrel is not between the Palestinians and Israel. It is between the international community and Israel. The time for Palestinians to sit down and talk is when the major powers have ensured the relevant UN resolutions are respected, international law is conformed with and Israel’s forces have been pulled back behind the pre-1967 border to leave a level playing field.
What if Israel won’t comply? No problem: suspend all trade and technical cooperation. The international community must finally confront the problem it has created. Its negligence and cowardice over the decades mean it now has a hill to climb. It had better get started.