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.”
內塔尼亞胡的言論引起了美國和世界各地的憤怒。歐巴馬政府回應稱,美國將「重新評估」對以色列的政策。值得注意的是,白宮辦公廳主任丹尼斯·麥克唐納在 J 街會議上表示,“持續了近 50 年的佔領必須結束,巴勒斯坦人民必須有權在自己的主權國家生活和自治。 ”
內塔尼亞胡的話為巴拉克·歐巴馬(Barack Obama)提供了一個絕佳的機會,可以從根本上改變他對以色列持續違法行為不加批判地支持的政策。
Israel Builds Illegal Settlements
以色列於1967年以武力接管約旦河西岸(包括東耶路撒冷),並從此一直處於軍事佔領之下。 242年通過的安理會第1967號決議提到“不允許通過戰爭獲取領土”,並呼籲“以色列武裝部隊從最近衝突中佔領的領土上撤出”。然而,以色列繼續佔領其在「六日戰爭」中獲得的巴勒斯坦領土。
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 1年XNUMX月. If Palestine files charges in the ICC, Obama should find indirect ways to provide funding to the PA to prevent its collapse.
根據《國家緊急狀態法》,總統有權宣布對外交政策危機採取緊急反應。歐巴馬應該將以色列定居點指定為緊急狀態。然後,他可以監管或禁止任何直接或間接導致非法定居點擴張的外匯交易。
數十個組織被美國國稅局 (IRS) 指定為 501(c)(3) 非營利組織 漏斗 每年向以色列非法定居點提供數千萬美元。資助非法活動違反了國稅局的指導方針。美國國稅局應對這些組織的活動進行徹底調查。
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.
聯合國人權事務副高級專員弗拉維亞‧潘謝裡 (Flavia Pansieri) 說過 巴勒斯坦被佔領土上的侵犯人權行為“助長並塑造了衝突”,並補充說,“包括東耶路撒冷在內的西岸的侵犯人權行為既是軍事佔領和持續暴力的原因,也是其後果,這是一個痛苦的循環過程,對該地區的和平與安全產生更廣泛的影響。”
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. 以色列沒有採取自衛行動 Protective Edge 期間及其行動遠遠超出了保護內部安全的範圍。歐巴馬應該暫停未來 AECA 中描述的武器的交付。
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.
1961 年的《對外援助法》禁止向任何「一貫嚴重侵犯國際公認人權」的國家提供援助。
歐巴馬應該執行這些法律。
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
美國的政策是反對聯合國安理會譴責以色列對巴勒斯坦領土非法殖民或定義兩國解決方案參數的所有決議。
事實上,美國在 2011 年 2014 月否決了一項譴責以色列在巴勒斯坦領土上建造定居點的決議。 XNUMX年XNUMX月,美國反對一項要求以色列在三年內撤出約旦河西岸的決議草案。
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 “六日戰爭”,其中以色列佔領了約旦河西岸、加薩、戈蘭高地、西奈半島和耶路撒冷。
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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