Occupation

A WORK IN PROGRESS

NEWS

• Washington Post
  Sleepy valley is unlikely focus of Mideast tension, by Alistair Lyon, Reuters (26 August 2008) – story of the dispute over the Shebaa Farms, which pits Israel against Lebanon against Syria and against the locals.
• Washington Post: Born at the dawn of a new state: Two men’s lives reflect divergent fortunes of Jewish, Palestinian peoples, by Griff Witte (8 May 2008).
  Griff Witte’s article attempts to be balanced by reviewing the lives of two men born in adjacent towns in what is now Israel – one is a Palestinian and one is a Jewish Israeli. But the main question that plagues Mr. Witte’s article once he paints a sympathetic picture both mens’ lives is that he cannot understand then why the conflict between their two societies continues. The answer is simple – that Israel stole the Palestinian homelands in 1948, and even now Israel continues to steal their lands in the occupied territories to make settlements and in the Negev from the Beduoins.
• Washington Times: “Mideast peace prospects” (21 April 2008)
  This important editorial by Ziad Asali describes how Israeli settlement building obstructs the peace process, the importance of freeing up Palestinian movement and economic activity in the occupied territories, and other important points about how counter-productive the occupation is.
• New York Times: “Palestinians Fear Two-Tier Road System” (28 March 2008)
  This article describes the inhumane hardship of Palestinian life under Israeli occupation.

ONLINE REPORTS

• Peace Now - “In light of the court ruling over Route 443 – will the plan for a new road be shelved?”, by Hagit Ofran (1 April 2010).
• Hamoked - “HaMoked cautions against the entering into effect of the Order regarding Prevention of Infiltration (Amendment No. 2) and the Order regarding Security Provisions (Amendment No. 112)” (28 March 2010).
• PLO Negotiations Affairs Dept. - “Fact Sheet: Israeli Misappropriations Disguised as Heritage Preservation – The Cases of Hebron and Bethlehem” (March 2010).
• PLO Negotiations Affairs Dept. - Jerusalem Fact Sheets.
• Hamoked - “HaMoked: Center for the Defence of the Individual and other organizations have lodged a protest with the state attorney’s office against summary expulsions of Palestinians from their homes in the West Bank to the Gaza Strip and against the conduct of the military legal advisor for the West Bank regarding this issue” (11 February 2010).
• Hamoked - “In a petition filed by HaMoked against the forced removal of a Palestinian police officer from the West Bank to the Gaza Strip, the state notified the court that it was revoking the deportation order and releasing the officer from custody” (2 February 2010).
• B’Tselem - “Al-Hadidiyeh, February 2010: Israel effectively pressuring Palestinian Bedouin community to leave the Jordan Valley” (February 2010) – quote – “the Jordan Valley is classified as Area C and is, therefore, under complete Israeli control. Israel has imposed harsh restrictions on building and movement there that apply to Palestinians alone, effectively pushing them to leave area”.
• Amnesty International - “Detainees in Israel and Occupied Palestinian Territories must be treated humanely” (24 November 2009).
• United Nations – Israeli practices affecting the human rights of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem (6 November 2009).
• United Nations – Jerusalem must be capital of both Israel and Palestine, Ban says (28 October 2009).
• Association for Civil Rights in Israel - “ACRI Report: Failing Education in East Jerusalem” (1 September 2009) – quote – “a status report on the Arab-Palestinian school system in East Jerusalem as the 2009-2010 school year begins”.
• B’TselemFoul Play: Neglect of wastewater treatment in the West Bank, by Eyal Hareuveni (June 28, 2009) – quote – “Wastewater in the West Bank – from the settlements, from parts of Jerusalem, and from Palestinian communities – amounts to 91 million cubic meters [mcm] a year. Most of it is not treated, despite the sanitary and environmental danger inherent to wastewater flowing freely. Prolonged neglect of this issue has caused severe hazards in the West Bank and is liable to pollute the Mountain Aquifer, the most important and highest-quality water source for both Israelis and Palestinians”.
• Gisha - Israel is formalizing the separation between Gaza and the West Bank (16 June 2009).
• International Committee of the Red Cross - ICRC Annual Report 2008: Israel, the occupied territories and the autonomous palestinian territories (27 May 2009).
• Human Sciences Research Council - Occupation, Colonialism, Apartheid: A reassessment of Israel’s practices in the occupied Palestinian territories under international law by Virginian Tilley (May 2009).
• PLO Negotiations Affairs Dept. - Israeli Road Map Violations since Annapolis – 18-Month Summary – 28 November 2007 – 27 May 2009.
• Human Rights Watch - New Arrests Highlight Abuses by Hamas, Fatah (29 July 2008).
• Human Rights Watch - Internal Fight: Palestinian Abuses in Gaza and the West Bank by Fred Abrahams (July 2008).
• Adalah – SPECIAL REPORT: Home Demolitions – The Israeli Military’s Home Demolitions Policy in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
• Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions – 884 New Settlement Units, 10 New Home Demolitions, Palestine News Network (3 June 2008).
• Amnesty International – Unlawful homes for Israeli settlers, demolitions for Palestinians (31 March 2008).
• Peace Now - Hope out of Despair by Hagit Ofran (10 March 2008) – quote – “When everyone is busy with revenge and war, it is our duty to make a sensible and clear voice heard and explain over and over again that threats and promises of attacks and blows are not productive in the least, they only increase the anger and the vicious circle of bloodshed”.
• Adalah – SPECIAL REPORT: Israeli Military Attacks on the Occupied Palestinian Territories – describes 6 Supreme Court petitions filed by Adalah describing massive human rights violations in the OT.
• International Commission of Jurists – Palestine – Israel – 7th Session of the UN Human Rights Council: ICJ Intervention on the Human Rights Situation in Palestine and Other Occupied Arab Territories – Administration of Justice – Independence of Judges & Lawyers (6 March 2008).
• United Nations Human Rights Council – Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, John Dugard (21 January 2008).
• Amnesty International – Amnesty International 2008 Report: The State of the World’s Human Rights: Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (2008).
• B’Tselem – Human Rights in the Occupied Territories: Annual Report 2007 (January 2008).
• Human Rights Watch – Human Rights Watch 2008 Report: Israel/Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) Events of 2007 (31 January 2008)
• International Committee of the Red Cross – The occupied Palestinian territories: Dignity Denied (13 December 2007) – Throughout the occupied Palestinian territories, in the Gaza Strip as well as the West Bank, Palestinians continuously face hardship in simply going about their lives; they are prevented from doing what makes up the daily fabric of most people’s existence. An ICRC report.
• Association for Civil Rights in Israel – The State of Human Rights in Israel and the Occupied Territories: 2007 Report (December 2007).
• International Committee of the Red Cross – Reappraising the role and limits of the legal discourse on occupation in the israeli-palestinian context, address by Mr Christoph Harnisch (6 June 2007).
• International Committee of the Red Cross – Occupied Golan: stories of separation (5 June 2007) – Quote from website – “Israel’s occupation of the Golan severely restricts the ability of its Arab residents to go about their daily lives. In addition, many have relatives across the demarcation line in Syria that they have not seen for years.”
• United Nations - Children and Armed Conflict: Middle East – Lebanon, Israel and occupied Palestinian territory (9-20 April 2007).

(2008).

• International Commission of Jurists – Palestine – Israel – Global inquiry concludes assessment of counter-terrorism laws, policies and practices in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories – Counter Terrorism and Human Rights, by (27 August 2007).
• United Nations - Children and Armed Conflict: Middle East – Lebanon, Israel and occupied Palestinian territory (9-20 April 2007).
• Palestinian Centre for Human Rights - “Closure” (2 January 2007) – this article pertains to the closure of the “safe passage” road between Gaza and the West Bank especially since the inception of the 2nd Intifada.
• International Committee of the Red Cross – Declining health services in the Palestinian territories: an ICRC report (15 November 2006) – Quote from website – “Since the beginning of 2006, the ICRC has repeatedly warned of the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territories. An ICRC report issued today documents the tragic consequences that the interruption of essential health services has had on the Palestinian population. A key finding is that it is the poor, whose numbers are increasing because of the overall economic decline, who are predominantly affected by the current interruption of health services.
• Human Rights Watch - A Question of Security – Violence against Palestinian Women and Girls (6 November 2006), quote-”A significant number of women and girls in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) are victims of violence perpetrated by family members and intimate partners.”.
• UNICEF - At A Glance: Occupied Palestinian Territory (11 September 2006).
• World Health Organization - The Health Crisis in the Occupied Palestinian Territory: Strategy Paper (18 July 2006).
• PLO Negotiations Affairs Dept. - AL-Aqaba and the Grab of the Jordan Valley (June 2006) – quote – “Al-Aqaba is a small Palestinian village located on the slope separating the Jordan Valley from the northern West Bank mountain range, in the Tubas governorate. Sandwiched between two Israeli military bases, al-Aqaba’s connections to neighboring communities and markets, and the Jordan Valley, have been incrementally severed. Since 1967, al-Aqaba’s population has decreased by 85%, dropping from around 2000 individuals to approximately 300 today”.
• Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group - “The Rainbow over Rafah: Thousand Palestinian hopes under the rubble”, by Fabio Forgione (4 June 2004).
• PLO Negotiations Affairs Dept. - Reports from the Palestinian Monitoring Group (August 2003 – present) – quote – “These daily situation reports, trend analyses and special reports are prepared by the Palestinian Monitoring Group (PMG), an inter-agency group of Palestinian civilian ministries and security agencies. Established in August 2003, the PMG monitors all aspects of ground conditions in the Occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Occupied Gaza Strip. The information reported through the PMG process only represents data available at the time of distribution.”.
• PLO Negotiations Affairs Dept. - Israel’s Roads and Tunnels Plan (October 2005).
• Adalah – SPECIAL REPORT: Israeli Military Attacks on the Occupied Palestinian Territories – a case of massive human rights violations.
• PLO Negotiations Affairs Dept. - The Silent Transfer of Palestinians: The Case of Bil’in (5 JANUARY 2005) – quote – ““Transfer” is a euphemism for the removal of Palestinians from their ancestral homelands to neighboring or distant countries, or to confined areas within the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). “Transfer” has been carried out by Israel since the state’s formation and continues to this very day. Israel’s policies in and around Bil’in suggest that Israel is again attempting to grab as much Palestinian land with as few Palestinians as possible.”.
• If Americans Knew – A Synopsis of the Current Situation.
• Human Rights Watch – Erased In A Moment: Suicide Bombing Attacks Against Israeli Civilians (15 October 2002), quote-”More than 415 Israeli and other civilians have been killed, and more than two thousand injured, as a result of attacks by armed Palestinians between September 30, 2000 and August 31, 2002. The majority of these deaths and injuries were caused by so-called suicide bombings carried out by Palestinians.”.
• United Nations - Illegal Israeli actions in Occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory: Report on Jenin (1 August 2002).
• International Committee of the Red Cross – Israel, the Occupied and the Autonomous Territories – Recent ICRC Action (27 May 2002).
• US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation – Miscellaneous Resources.
• Human Rights Watch – In the Dark Hour: The Use of Civilians during IDF Arrest Operations (18 April 2002), quote-”This report documents the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) practice of coercing civilians to assist military personnel and operations, a serious violation of international humanitarian law (IHL).”.
• Human Rights Watch - Jenin – IDF Military Operations (2 May 2002), quote-”On April 3, 2002, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) launched a major military operation in the Jenin refugee camp, home to some fourteen thousand Palestinians, the overwhelming majority of them civilians…. The IDF military incursion into the Jenin refugee camp was carried out on an unprecedented scale compared to other military operations mounted by the IDF since the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict began in September 2000.”
• Human Rights Watch – In the Dark Hour: The Use of Civilians during IDF Arrest Operations (18 April 2002), quote-”This report documents the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) practice of coercing civilians to assist military personnel and operations, a serious violation of international humanitarian law (IHL).”.
• World Health Organization (WHO) - Health Situation of Palestinian People Living in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, by Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, Director, WHO (27 September 2002).
• Washington Report on Middle East Affairs – Special Report: “For Security Reasons”: The Surreal Reality of Post-Oslo Palestine, by Janet McMahon (September 1998).
• Washington Report on Middle East Affairs – Middle East History: It Happened in July – With First Settlement in Golan, Israel Chose Land Over Peace, by Donald Neff (July/August 1993).
• Al-Haq: Twenty Years of Israeli Occupation of the West Bank and Gaza (1987).
• Al-Haq & Gaza Centre for Rights & Law - Justice?: The Military Court System in the Israeli-Occupied Territories (1987).
• Israeli Committee against Home Demolitions – The Key to Peace: Dismantling the Matrix of Control, by Jeff Halper.

OFFLINE REFERENCES

• Benvenisti, Eyal. “Legal Dualism: The Absorption of the Occupied Territories into Israel”. The West Bank Data Base Project. Westview Press, Boulder, CO (1990).
• Cassese, Antonio. “Powers and Duties of an Occupant in Relation to Land and Natural Resources”, in Playfair, Emma (ed.), International Law and the Administration of Occupied Territories, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK (1992), p 419.
• Drury, Richard T. and Winn, Robert C. “Plowshares and Swords: The Economics of Occupation in the West Bank”. Published by Beacon Press, Boston, MA (1992).
• Falk, Richard A. and Burns, H. Weston. “The Relevance of International Law to Israeli and Palestinian Rights in the West Bank and Gaza”, in Playfair, Emma (ed.), International Law and the Administration of Occupied Territories, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK (1992), p 125.
• Greenwood, Christopher. “The Administration of Occupied Territory in International Law”, in Playfair, Emma (ed.), International Law and the Administration of Occupied Territories, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK (1992), p 241.
• Hiltermann, Joost R. “Mass-based Organizations in the West Bank and Gaza: Offering Services Because of and Despite the Military Occupation”, in Playfair, Emma (ed.), International Law and the Administration of Occupied Territories, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK (1992), p 313.
• Jabr, Hisham. “Financial Administration of the Israeli-Occupied West Bank”, in Playfair, Emma (ed.), International Law and the Administration of Occupied Territories, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK (1992), p 377.
• Kretzmer, David. “The Occupation of Justice: The Supreme Court of Israel and the Occupied Territories”. SUNY Press, Albany, NY (2002).
• Kuttab, Jonathan. “Avenues Open for Defence of Human Rights in the Israeli-Occupied Territories”, in Playfair, Emma (ed.), International Law and the Administration of Occupied Territories, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK (1992), p 489.
• Qupty, Mazen. “The Application of International Law in the Occupied Territories as Reflected in the Judgments of the High Court of Justice in Israel”, in Playfair, Emma (ed.), International Law and the Administration of Occupied Territories, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK (1992), p 87.
• Rabah, Jamil & Fairweather, Natasha. “Israeli Military Orders in the Occupied Palestinian Territories: 1967-1992″. Jerusalem Media & Communication Centre, East Jerusalem, West Bank (1993).
• Rishmawi, Mona. “The Administration of the West Bank under Israeli Rule”, in Playfair, Emma (ed.), International Law and the Administration of Occupied Territories, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK (1992), p 267.
• Roberts, Adam. “Prolonged Military Occupation: The Israeli-Occupied Territories 1967-1988”, in Playfair, Emma (ed.), International Law and the Administration of Occupied Territories, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK (1992), p 25.
• Shehadeh, Raja. “Occupier’s Law: Israel and the West Bank”. Institute for Palestinian Studies, Washington D.C. (1985).
• Shehadeh, Raja. “The Legislative States of the Israeli Military Occupation”, in Playfair, Emma (ed.), International Law and the Administration of Occupied Territories, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK (1992), p 151.
• Shehadeh, Raja. “From Occupation to Interim Accords: Israel and the Palestinian Territories”. Kluwer Law International, Boston, MA (1997).
• Von Glahn, Gerhard. “Taxation under Belligerent Occupation”, in Playfair, Emma (ed.), International Law and the Administration of Occupied Territories, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK (1992), p 341.

ARTICLES:

KOUTSOUKIS, Jason: “West Bank occupation poses the real threat to Israel” The National Times, 23 September 2009