Response to World Court Opinion by Palestinian Resistance and Others
The Hamas Movement welcomed the legal opinion issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands.
The Movement said on July 19 that the ruling affirmed "the illegality of the Zionist occupation and the necessity of putting an end to it, exposed the fascist settlement system, demanded its end, and pointed out the widespread violations of international law committed by the different occupation governments against our people and our Palestinian land."
"This decision, and the court's request to the United Nations and the Security Council, to consider measures to put an end to the Zionist occupation, places before the international system the need for immediate action to end the occupation, and to translate the successive decisions issued by the court into serious steps on the ground, especially in light of the ongoing war of genocide against our people in the Gaza Strip, the dangerous settlement expansion in the West Bank, and the frantic Judaization steps in Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque."
Hamas called for "immediate" international action following the court's ruling, saying it puts before the international system the imperative of immediate action to end the occupation.
UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry
The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel said that it welcomes the historic advisory opinion issued Friday by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) stating that the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory is illegal under international law.
"The Court was clear and unambiguous, and the advisory opinion entails international legal obligations not only for Israel, but for the UN and all States," said Navi Pillay, the Chair of the Commission.
UN Special Rapporteur
Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territories tweeted on July 19:
"Historic day for international justice and the decolonization of Palestine.
"The supreme judicial organ of the UN has confirmed what the Palestinians, some liberated Israelis, serious legal scholarship and the human rights community worldwide have steadily denounced [that]:
"Israel's 57-year-old occupation is UNLAWFUL, nothing concerning it should be considered as legal by member states and UN agencies alike and Israel must dismantle it at once, together with its illegal settlement enterprise, the apartheid that has sustained it and also offer reparations to the Palestinians.
"And now, let's apply international law, starting with stopping the genocide the unlawful occupier is committing, imposing sanctions on it and ensuring immediate protection of the Palestinians under its rule."
Al-Haq, Palestinian Human Rights Organization
Zainah el-Haroun, the spokesperson for Al-Haq, a Palestinian non-profit organization based in the West Bank that monitors human rights violations, said that the ICJ ruling only has significance if it is given teeth and actually enforced by all UN members, who are obligated to do so.
"These rulings mean nothing if third states and the international community fail to hold Israel accountable," she told Al Jazeera, giving the example of the ICJ's 2004 advisory opinion that found Israel's separation wall and settlements on occupied Palestinian land illegal. Settlements have not only remained in the West Bank since the ruling, but the number of Israeli settlers living there has also risen from 250,000 in 1993 to more than 700,000 in 2023.
"The ICJ has ruled that Israel's occupation is unlawful and must end immediately. Third states must ensure the full and total realization of the Palestinian people to self-determination and sanction Israel's illegal occupation, which breaches international law," she added.
Israeli Prime Minister
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to the ICJ ruling by asserting Jewish dominion over the historical lands of the Palestinian people. "The Jewish people are not occupiers in their own land, including in our eternal capital Jerusalem nor in Judea and Samaria, our historical homeland. No absurd opinion in the Hague can deny this historical truth or the legal right of Israelis to live in their own communities in our ancestral home," he said.
United States
In a July 20 email to Reuters, a U.S. State Department spokesperson said:
"We have been clear that Israel's program of government support for settlements is both inconsistent with international law and obstructs the cause of peace. [...] However, we are concerned that the breadth of the court's opinion will complicate efforts to resolve the conflict."
Canada
The Trudeau Liberal government initially boycotted any mention of the ICJ ruling. The website of the Global Affairs Canada made no mention of it, neither did Foreign Minister Melanie Joly see fit to acknowledge it on her X account. Only on July 26 did Canada acknowledge the ICJ ruling in a joint statement of the Prime Ministers of Australia, Canada and New Zealand "on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel." With regard to the ruling of the ICJ they called on Israel to respond to the ICJ's advisory opinion. They said not a word about the responsibilities of their own governments to comply with the ICJ ruling and stop Israel's occupation and war crimes.
Notoriously the statement by the Prime Ministers of Canada, Australia and New Zealand showing support for the ceasefire deal "outlined by Biden" and endorsed by the United Nations Security Council does not stop at aping the U.S. imperialists' calls. It goes on to make a point of repeating what Israel and the U.S. think they can still dictate to the Palestinians, saying that Hamas should have "no role in the future governance of Gaza." In effect they are showing utter contempt and rejection of the united position of all organizations in Palestine and of the important Beijing Declaration, as well as refusing to accept their responsibility for complying with what the ICJ is calling for.
This article was published in
Volume 54
Number 44 - July 27, 2024
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2024/Articles/MS54444.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca