As Israeli voters went to the polls, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared he would oppose the creation of a Palestinian state. In what The New York Times called a “racist rant,” he also proclaimed, “right-wing rule is in danger” because “Arab voters are streaming in huge quantities to the polling stations.” James Besser, Washington correspondent for Jewish newspapers for 24 years, wrote that Israeli voters, “more clearly aware of Netanyahu’s intent than ever,” have chosen “the apartheid path.”
Netanjahuove vyjadrenia sa stretli s pobúrením v Spojených štátoch a na celom svete. Obamova administratíva reagovala vyhlásením, že Spojené štáty „prehodnotia“ svoju politiku voči Izraelu. A čo je dôležité, šéf Bieleho domu Denis McDonough na konferencii na ulici J Street povedal, že „okupácia, ktorá trvala takmer 50 rokov, musí skončiť a palestínsky ľud musí mať právo žiť a vládnuť si vo svojom vlastnom suverénnom štáte. “
Netanjahuove slová vytvárajú pre Baracka Obamu skvelú príležitosť radikálne zmeniť svoju politiku nekritickej podpory pokračujúceho porušovania zákona Izraelom.
Israel Builds Illegal Settlements
Izrael prevzal Západný breh Jordánu (vrátane východného Jeruzalema) vojenskou silou v roku 1967 a odvtedy ho drží pod vojenskou okupáciou. Rezolúcia Bezpečnostnej rady 242 prijatá v roku 1967 hovorí o „neprípustnosti získania územia vojnou“ a vyzýva na „stiahnutie izraelských ozbrojených síl z území okupovaných v nedávnom konflikte“. Napriek tomu Izrael naďalej okupuje palestínske územia, ktoré získal v „šesťdňovej vojne“.
Since 1967, Israel has transferred more than a half million of its own citizens into these territories. Israel continues to build settlements in the West Bank, which is occupied Palestinian territory. A state that is occupying territory that is not its own cannot build settlements on that territory and transfer its own citizens into them. Under the Rome Statute for the International Criminal Court (ICC), such action constitutes a war crime. Article 8.2(b)(viii) of the statute defines “the transfer, directly or indirectly, by the Occupying Power of parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies” as a war crime.
The ICC can investigate and prosecute these crimes. Yet, in order to prevent such investigation and prosecution, the United States has consistently opposed Palestine becoming a party to the Rome Statute. Congress passed a law that would automatically discontinue the United States’ $400 million annual aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA) if Palestine were to bring charges against Israel in the ICC. Palestine will join the ICC on apríla 1. If Palestine files charges in the ICC, Obama should find indirect ways to provide funding to the PA to prevent its collapse.
Podľa zákona o národných mimoriadnych situáciách má prezident právomoc vyhlásiť núdzovú reakciu na zahraničnopolitickú krízu. Obama by mal označiť izraelské osady za núdzový stav. Potom by mohol regulovať alebo zakázať akúkoľvek devízovú transakciu, ktorá priamo alebo nepriamo prispieva k rozširovaniu nelegálnych osád.
Desiatky organizácií označených úradom Internal Revenue Service (IRS) ako neziskové organizácie podľa 501(c)(3) lievik desiatky miliónov dolárov ročne nelegálnym izraelským osadám. Financovanie nezákonných aktivít porušuje smernice IRS. IRS by mal dôkladne vyšetriť činnosť týchto organizácií.
Israel Committed War Crimes During Operation Protective Edge
In July 2014, Israel invaded Gaza and killed more than 2,000 Palestinians, the majority of them civilians. Nearly 10,000 Palestinians were wounded, more than 2,000 of them children. Tens of thousands of Palestinians lost their homes and infrastructure was severely damaged. Numerous schools, United Nations (UN) places of refuge, hospitals, ambulances and mosques were intentionally targeted. Israel used the “Dahiya doctrine” to apply “disproportionate force” and cause “great damage and destruction to civilian property and infrastructure, and suffering to civilians populations,” as defined in the 2009 UN Human Rights Council (Goldstone) report. These acts constitute evidence of war crimes under Article 8 (2)(a) of the Rome Statute.
Flavia Pansieri, zástupkyňa vysokého komisára OSN pre ľudské práva, povedal že porušovanie ľudských práv „poháňa a formuje konflikt“ na okupovaných palestínskych územiach a dodáva, že „porušovanie ľudských práv na Západnom brehu, vrátane východného Jeruzalema, je príčinou aj dôsledkom vojenskej okupácie a pokračujúceho násilia, trpký cyklický proces so širšími dôsledkami pre mier a bezpečnosť v regióne.
Nevertheless, the United States has opposed the investigation and prosecution of these crimes in the ICC. The United States has joined Israel in boycotting the UN Human Rights Council’s investigation of international law violations during the July 2014 attack (known as Operation Protective Edge). The US government should support this process and the ICC investigation.
The United States provides Israel with $3.1 billion in military assistance each year. Under the Arms Export Control Act (AECA), countries that receive US military aid can only use weapons for legitimate self-defense and internal security. Izrael nekonal v sebaobrane počas Protective Edge a jej akcie ďaleko presahovali ochranu vnútornej bezpečnosti. Obama by mal pozastaviť budúce dodávky zbraní opísaných v AECA.
Moreover, under the Leahy Law, military units that commit human rights abuses cannot receive US training or weapons, and individuals who commit human rights abuses are denied US visas. The US State Department’s annual report has documented Israeli violations.
A zákon o zahraničnej pomoci z roku 1961 zakazuje pomoc akejkoľvek krajine, „ktorá sa zapája do sústavného vzoru hrubého porušovania medzinárodne uznávaných ľudských práv“.
Obama by mal tieto zákony presadzovať.
Israel Maintains the Illegal Barrier Wall
Israel constructed a wall that encroaches on Palestinian land. The International Court of Justice (ICJ, or the World Court) – the legal arm of the UN system – concluded that the construction of that wall and its associated regime impedes the liberty of movement of the inhabitants of the occupied Palestinian territory as guaranteed under Article 12 (1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The ICJ also determined that the wall impedes the right to work, to health, to education and to an adequate standard of living as required by the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The ICJ ruled that Israel should dismantle the wall, make reparation for the damage it has caused and return the land, orchards, olive groves and other immovable property it seized to construct the wall – or compensate the aggrieved persons for the damage suffered.
The US government should tell Israel to dismantle the wall in accordance with the ICJ’s ruling.
The Pentagon Admits Israel Has Nuclear Weapons
After 50 years of denial about Israel’s arsenal of nuclear weapons, the US Defense Department has finally admitted that Israel has nuclear weapons. The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended, prohibits US military assistance to countries that acquire or transfer nuclear reprocessing technology outside of international nonproliferation regimes; yet this law has been honored in its breach.
While the United States prods other countries to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), requiring international inspections, Israel refuses to sign the NPT, thereby avoiding inspections.
Obama should enforce the law.
US Policy of Opposing Security Council Resolutions Critical of Israel
Spojené štáty majú politiku postaviť sa proti všetkým rezolúciám v Bezpečnostnej rade OSN, ktoré odsudzujú ilegálnu kolonizáciu palestínskeho územia Izraelom alebo ktoré definujú parametre riešenia v podobe dvoch štátov.
Spojené štáty totiž vo februári 2011 vetovali rezolúciu, ktorá by odsúdila budovanie izraelských osád na palestínskom území. A v novembri 2014 sa Spojené štáty postavili proti návrhu rezolúcie požadujúcej stiahnutie Izraela zo Západného brehu do troch rokov.
Obama has put all of his eggs in the “peace process” basket. But now that Netanyahu has stripped away all pretense of negotiating for a Palestinian state, Obama must drop his opposition to such resolutions in the council. A senior White House official told The New York Times that the Obama administration might lend its support to a resolution “embodying the principles of a two-state solution that would include Israel’s 1967 borders with Palestine and mutually agreed swaps of territory.” The 1967 borders are those that existed before the “Šesťdňová vojna“, v ktorej Izrael obsadil Západný breh Jordánu, Gazu, Golanské výšiny, Sinajský polostrov a Jeruzalem.
Obama Has a Duty to Enforce the Law
The US Constitution requires that the president “take care that the laws be faithfully executed.” Netanyahu has dropped any pretense of good faith. It is high time for the US government to halt its longstanding policy of turning a blind eye to Israel’s many violations of the law. Obama has a constitutional duty to enforce the law.
Marjorie Cohn is a professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, a former president of the National Lawyers Guild, and deputy secretary general of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers. Her most recent book is “Drones and Targeted Killing: Legal, Moral, and Geopolitical Issues.”
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