Right to non-armed resistance
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The Palestinians' right to resist is a significant issue deeply rooted in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine, particularly in relation to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories. This right, recognized under international law, is based on the principle of self-determination for all peoples under foreign and colonial rule. [1]
Under international law the right to resist excludes recourse to violence against civilians. [2]
Many scholars have argued that Palestinians have the right to resist under international law, including armed resistance. This right to resist is in a jus ad bellum sense only; the conduct of such resistance ( jus in bello ) must be in accordance with laws of war. This implies that attacks on Israeli military targets could be allowed but attacks on Israeli civilians are prohibited. Whether it is Palestinians who have the right to resist against the Israeli occupation, or it is Israel that has the right to self-defense against Palestinian violence, is one of the most important questions in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. [3]
It is agreed that, under international law, Palestinians have the right to self-determination. [4] Many scholars support Palestinians' right to use armed struggle in pursuit of self-determination. Such a right is derived from Protocol I, Declaration on Friendly Relations, [5] as well as several resolutions of the United Nations Security Council and General Assembly. [6] Some writers caution that force can only be resorted to after non-violent means of achieving self-determination have been exhausted while other scholars state that Palestinians have indeed exhausted all non-violent means. [7] As evidence, such writers point to the failure of the Oslo Accords to bring about Palestinian self-determination, believing that armed resistance is the only option. [8] Some scholars argue Palestinians also have the right to self-defense, [9] but others point out that not everyone recognizes the State of Palestine and insist only states have the right to self-defense. [10]
Scholars who support a right to armed resistance agree that such a right must be exercised in accordance with international humanitarian law. In particular, only Israeli soldiers may be targeted, and civilians must be spared. The State of Palestine has ratified and is a party to the Geneva Conventions. Many[ who? ] remain skeptical of the Palestinian right of armed resistance.Palestinians have a recognized right under international law to resist Israeli occupation under Protocol I of the Geneva Conventions. [11] [12] [1] This right is affirmed in the context of the right of self-determination of all peoples under foreign and colonial rule. [13] [14] The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has expressly affirmed the right of Palestinians to resist Israeli military occupation, including through armed struggle. [15] [16] General Assembly resolution A/RES/38/17 (22/11/1983) stated that it "Reaffirmsthe legitimacy of the struggle of peoples for their independence, territorial integrity, national unity and liberation from colonial domination, apartheid and foreign occupation by all available means, including armed struggle". [17]
The question of self-defense in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is complex. Advocates argue that if Israel has the right to defend itself by launching airstrikes that destroy Palestinian homes, educational institutions, medical facilities and religious sites, then surely the Palestinians have the right to defend themselves from Israeli and settler violence. [18] [19] [20]
| | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (August 2024) |
Long ago, it was settled that resistance and even armed struggle against a colonial occupation force is not just recognised under international law but specifically endorsed. In accordance with international humanitarian law, wars of national liberation have been expressly embraced, through the adoption of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 (pdf), as a protected and essential right of occupied people everywhere.
The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small, densely populated territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. It is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that comprise the State of Palestine. Gaza is bordered by Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the east and north.
The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas, is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islamist political organisation with a militant wing called the Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades. It has governed the Israeli-occupied Gaza Strip since 2007.
The Palestine Liberation Organization is a Palestinian nationalist coalition that is internationally recognized as the official representative of the Palestinian people in both the Palestinian territories and the diaspora. It is currently represented by the Palestinian Authority based in the West Bank city of Al-Bireh.
The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is an ongoing military and political conflict about land and self-determination within the territory of the former Mandatory Palestine. Key aspects of the conflict include the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the status of Jerusalem, Israeli settlements, borders, security, water rights, the permit regime, Palestinian freedom of movement, and the Palestinian right of return.
Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in the southern Levant region of West Asia recognized by 145 out of 193 UN member states. It encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, collectively known as the Palestinian territories, within the broader geographic and historical Palestine region. The country shares most of its borders with Israel, and it borders Jordan to the east and Egypt to the southwest. It has a total land area of 6,020 square kilometres (2,320 sq mi) while its population exceeds five million people. Its proclaimed capital is Jerusalem, while Ramallah serves as its administrative center. Gaza City was its largest city until 2023.
The history of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict traces back to the late 19th century when Zionists sought to establish a homeland for the Jewish people in Ottoman-controlled Palestine, a region roughly corresponding to the Land of Israel in Jewish tradition. The Balfour Declaration of 1917, issued by the British government, endorsed the idea of a Jewish homeland in Palestine, which led to an influx of Jewish immigrants to the region. Following World War II and the Holocaust, international pressure mounted for the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine, leading to the creation of Israel in 1948.
Palestinian political violence refers to actions carried out by Palestinians with the intent to achieve political objectives that can involve the use of force, some of which are considered acts of terror, and often carried out in the context of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Common objectives of political violence by Palestinian groups include self-determination in and sovereignty over all of Palestine, or the recognition of a Palestinian state inside the 1967 borders. This includes the objective of ending the Israeli occupation. More limited goals include the release of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel and recognition of the Palestinian right of return.
The status of territories captured by Israel is the status of the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, the Golan Heights, and the Sinai Peninsula, all of which were captured by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War.
Issues relating to the State of Palestine and aspects of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict occupy continuous debates, resolutions, and resources at the United Nations. Since its founding in 1948, the United Nations Security Council, as of January 2010, has adopted 79 resolutions directly related to the Arab–Israeli conflict.
Israeli settlements in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, as well as in the Syrian Golan Heights, are illegal under international law. These settlements are in violation of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, and in breach of international declarations. In a 2024 ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the court reaffirmed the illegality of the settlements and called on Israel to end its occupation, cease its settlement activity, and evacuate all its settlers.
The Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement, referred to as the Hamas Covenant or Hamas Charter, was issued by Hamas on 18 August 1988 and outlines the organization's founding identity, positions, and aims. In 2017, Hamas unveiled a revised charter, without explicitly revoking the 1988 charter.
Ali Hasan Abunimah is a Palestinian-American journalist who has been described as "the leading American proponent of a one-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict". A resident of Chicago who contributes regularly to publications such as the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times, he has served as the vice-president on the board of directors of the Arab American Action Network, is a fellow at the Palestine Center, and is a co-founder of The Electronic Intifada website. He has appeared on many television discussion programs on CNN, MSNBC, PBS, and other networks, and in a number of documentaries about the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, including Collecting Stories from Exile: Chicago Palestinians Remember 1948 (1999).
Human shields are legally protected persons—either protected civilians or prisoners of war—who are either coerced or volunteer to deter attacks by occupying the space between a belligerent and a legitimate military target. The use of human shields is forbidden by Protocol I of the Geneva Conventions. It is also a specific intent war crime as codified in the Rome Statute, which was adopted in 1998. The language of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court prohibits "utilizing the presence of a civilian or other protected person to render certain points, areas, or military forces immune from military operations."
The West Bank, including East Jerusalem, has been under military occupation by Israel since 7 June 1967, when Israeli forces captured the territory, then ruled by Jordan, during the Six-Day War. The status of the West Bank as a militarily occupied territory has been affirmed by the International Court of Justice and, with the exception of East Jerusalem, by the Israeli Supreme Court. The official view of the Israeli government is that the laws of belligerent occupation do not apply to the territories, which it considers instead "disputed", and it administers the West Bank, excepting East Jerusalem, under the Israeli Civil Administration, a branch of the Israeli Ministry of Defense. Considered to be a classic example of an "intractable conflict", the length of Israel's occupation was already regarded as exceptional after two decades, and is now the longest in modern history. Israel has cited several reasons for retaining the West Bank within its ambit: a claim based on the notion of historic rights to this as a homeland as claimed in the Balfour Declaration of 1917; security grounds, both internal and external; and the deep symbolic value for Jews of the area occupied. The International Court of Justice has rejected the Israeli view that the territory is not occupied and has found that Israel's "continued presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory is unlawful".
Armenian-Palestinian relations refers to relations between Armenia and the State of Palestine. Armenia supports Palestinian statehood. Armenia is an observer state of the Arab League in which Palestine is a full member. The former President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan has stated that Armenia supported the Palestinian people's self determination in an interview with Al Mayadeen. President of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas has also stated that he supported the expansion of Armenia and called Armenians a "great ally of Palestine". On 21 June 2024, the Armenian government recognized the State of Palestine.
Following the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis, the United Nations Human Rights Council voted on 27 May 2021 to set up a United Nations fact-finding mission to investigate possible war crimes and other abuses committed in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories, which has continued since 1967 and is the longest military occupation in modern history, has become illegal under international law. This illegality encompasses the West Bank, including Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem, as well as the blockaded Gaza Strip, which remains to be considered occupied under international law despite the 2005 Israeli disengagement. Israel's policies and practices in the occupied West Bank, including the construction and expansion of Israeli settlements, have amounted to de facto annexation that is illegal under international law.
The right to resist has been put forward as a human right, although its scope and content are controversial. The right to resist, depending on how it is defined, can take the form of civil disobedience or armed resistance against a tyrannical government or foreign occupation; whether it also extends to non-tyrannical governments is disputed. Although Hersch Lauterpacht, one of the most distinguished jurists, called the right to resist the supreme human right, this right's position in international human rights law is tenuous and rarely discussed. Forty-two countries explicitly recognize a constitutional right to resist, as does the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights.
Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, was a proceeding before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the highest legal body of the United Nations (UN), stemming from a resolution adopted by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in December 2022 requesting the Court to render an advisory opinion relating to the legality of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories.
Many scholars have argued that Palestinians have the right to resist under international law, including armed resistance. This right to resist is in a jus ad bellum sense only; the conduct of such resistance must be in accordance with laws of war. This implies that attacks on Israeli military targets could be allowed but attacks on Israeli civilians are prohibited. Whether it is Palestinians who have the right to resist against the Israeli occupation, or it is Israel that has the right to self-defense against Palestinian violence, is one of the most important questions in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.