Special Committee 12

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The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions | P.O.B 2030 Jerusalem 91020 Israel

Tel. +972-2-6245560 | Fax. +972-2-6221530 | www.icahd.org | [email protected]| 1

STATEMENT TO THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE

TO INVESTIGATE ISRAELI PRACTICES

AFFECTING THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF THE

PALESTINIAN PEOPLE AND OTHER ARABS

OF THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES

JULY 2012

This project is funded by the European Union and the United Nations Development Programme.


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The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) is a human rights and peace

organization established in 1997 to end Israels Occupation over the Palestinians. ICAHD

takes as its main focus, as its vehicle for resistance, Israels policy of demolishing Palestinianhomes in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and within Israel proper. ICAHD was awarded

ECOSOC Special Consultative Status in 2010.

Published by the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD)

PO Box 2030 Jerusalem 91020 Israel

+972 2 624-5560

[email protected] | www.icahd.org

The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of the Israeli Committee Against

House Demolitions and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Unionand the United Nations Development Programme.

Compiled by Adv. Emily Schaeffer (Michael Sfard Law Office) and Itay Epshtain, LL.M.


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I. Executive Summary

1. ICAHD submits the following information for consideration by the United Nations (UN)

Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices (the Special Committee). This submission

focuses on Israel's protracted failure to comply with human rights obligations in relation to

the occupation of the Palestinian territory, and its responsibility to respect, protect and fulfil

Palestinians' human rights, in accordance with international law and standards.

2. UN Treaty Bodies have consistently negated the Israeli position that international human

rights law (IHRL) does not apply extraterritorially in the OPT, and they have not accepted

Israel's assertion that it can legitimately differentiate between Israelis and Palestinians in the

OPT on the basis of citizenship. It is ICAHD's position that international human rights law is

applicable to all territory over which a state exercises effective control, including occupied

territory, as was expressed by numerous UN Treaty Bodies, and most notably theInternational Court of Justice (ICJ) Advisory Opinion on the Wall (2004): "The Court would

observe that, while the jurisdiction of States is primarily territorial, it may sometimes be

exercised outside the national territory. Considering the object and purpose of the

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, it would seem natural that, even

when such is the case, States parties to the Covenant should be bound to comply with its

provisions." Additionally, the Human Rights Committee (HRC) General Comment no. 31 (The

Nature of the General Legal Obligation Imposed on States Parties to the Covenant) Article

10: "States Parties are required by article 2, paragraph 1, to respect and to ensure the

Covenant rights to all persons who may be within their territory and to all persons subject

to their jurisdiction. This means that a State party must respect and ensure the rights laid

down in the Covenant to anyone within the power or effective control of that State Party,

even if not situated within the territory of the State Party. [] the enjoyment of Covenantrights is not limited to citizens of States Parties but must also be available to all

individuals, regardless of nationality or statelessness [] This principle also applies to

those within the power or effective control of the forces of a State Party acting outside its

territory, regardless of the circumstances in which such power or effective control was

obtained." While the prevalent legal regime in belligerent occupation is international

humanitarian law, the HRC further established that: "[] the Covenant applies also in

situations of armed conflict to which the rules of international humanitarian law are

applicable. [] both spheres of law are complementary, not mutually exclusive."

3. The Palestinian population in the OPT, including occupied and illegally annexed East

Jerusalem, continues to endure violence, displacement, dispossession and deprivation as a

result of prolonged Israeli occupation, in most cases in violation of their rights under IHRLand international humanitarian law (IHL). In the West Bank, including East Jerusalem,

demolitions are a major cause of the destruction of property, including residential and

livelihood-related structures, and displacement. In 2011, a record year of displacement, a

total of 622 Palestinian structures were demolished by Israeli authorities, of which 36% (or

222) were family homes; the remainder were livelihood-related (including water storage and

agricultural structures), resulting in 1,094 people displaced, almost double the number in

2010. As of July 1 2012, 378 structures have been demolished since the beginning of the

year, including 120 family homes. As a result, 615 people were displaced and offered neither


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alternative housing nor compensation, and 2,150 peoples livelihood has been adversely

affected. All recorded demolitions raise suspicions of having been carried out in defiance of

international law, and together likely constitute a grave breach of the Fourth GenevaConvention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, to which Israel is a

signatory, and which constitutes customary international law.

4. The demolition of Palestinian homes and other structures, forced or resulting

displacement, and land expropriation are politically and ethnically motivated. The goal is to

limit development and confine the four million Palestinian residents of the West Bank, East

Jerusalem, and Gaza to small enclaves, thus effectively foreclosing any viable, contiguous

Palestinian state and ensuring Israeli control and the "Judaization" of the occupied West

Bank and East Jerusalem.

5. Judaization refers to the view that Israel has actively sought to transform the physical and

demographic landscape to correspond with a vision of a united andfundamentally Jewish land under Israeli sovereignty in historic Palestine. Israel pursues a

concerted policy of land expropriation, demolitions, forced evictions and discriminatory

development, displacing Palestinians and introducing Jewish inhabitants. Israeli Government

ministries openly continue to advance evict and Judaize programmes, whereby Palestinians

are displaced, directly or indirectly, and Jewish inhabitants are introduced in their place,

despite international remonstration.

6. We are indeed witnessing a process of ethnic displacement and Judaization

institutionalized policies designed to alter the ethnic, religious or racial composition of an

affected population: Palestinians residing in Area C of the occupied West Bank and East

Jerusalem. This strategy has resulted in many members of that population relocating to

Areas A and B, which are nominally under Palestinian Authority control. Israels policies alsocreate a situation not only of displacement, but also of de facto forced deportation, which

may rise to the level of a war crime. For instance, East Jerusalem Palestinians who have

relocated to the West Bank or elsewhere based on Israel's building and demolition policies

may face residency revocation and be barred from reentering East Jerusalem, thus de facto

deporting them. In some cases Palestinians have been physically deported from their

communities, such that Israel has indeed committed the war crime of forced deportation.

7. Moreover, following a February 2012 visit to the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the UN

Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing, Prof. Raquel Rolnik concluded that in

the West Bank the territorial fragmentation and the severe deterioration of Palestinian

standards of living are furthered by decades of accelerated expansion of Israeli settlement

units that expropriate land and natural resources. "To a certain extent, these territorial anddemographic changes promoted in the West Bank mirror changes [that] occurred within

the Israeli territory after 1948, where Palestinian presence was progressively limited in

parallel to a disproportional support to the expansion of Jewish communities." Prof. Rolnik

concluded that after the Oslo agreements Israel retained official temporary control over the

vast majority of the occupied Wes Bank (Area C). At present more than half a million Israeli-

Jews have settled in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem:

"Throughout my visit, I was able to witness a land development model that excludes,

discriminates against and displaces minorities in Israel which is being replicated in the


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occupied territory, affecting Palestinian communities. The Bedouins in the Negev inside

Israel, as well as the new Jewish settlements in Area C of the West Bank and inside

Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem are the new frontiers of dispossession ofthe traditional inhabitants, and the implementation of a strategy of Judaization and

control of the territory."

II. Israeli Practices and Policies of Property Demolition and Forcible Transfer

8. Israels practices in the OPT violate Palestinians' economic, social, cultural, civil, and

political rights enshrined in several bodies of IHRL. Notably, the human right to adequate

housing is contained, inter alia, in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 (Art.

25(1)); the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of 1966 (Art. 11);

the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966 (Art. 17); the International

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination of 1969 (Art. 5(e)(iii));

and the Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1990 (Arts. 16, 27).

9. The right to adequate housing, enshrined in the ICESCR, is an essential component of the

right to an adequate standard of living. When guaranteed, it provides a foundation for the

realization of other rights, including the rights to family, work, education, and ultimately,

national self-determination. Furthermore, Israeli policies violate its commitments under the

ICERD, notably, Article 5(e)(iii) regarding the right to housing. We further wish to recall that

The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) in its 2011 concluding

observations (E/C.12/ISR/CO/3) called upon Israel to stop forthwith house demolitions,

forced evictions and residency revocation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and East

Jerusalem: "The Committee is deeply concerned about home demolitions and forced

evictions in the West Bank, in particular Area C, as well as in East Jerusalem, by Israeli

authorities, military personnel and settlers. The Committee urges the State party to stopforthwith home demolitions. The Committee also recommends that the State party review

and reform its housing policy and the issuance of construction permits [], in order to

prevent demolitions and forced evictions and ensure the legality of construction in those

areas." Moreover, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) called

Israel in its 2012 concluding observation (CERD/C/ISR/CO/14-16) to take immediate

measures to eradicate apartheid policies or practices which severely affect the Palestinian

population in the OPT, and which violate the provisions of the Convention on the prevention

of racial segregation and apartheid: "The Committee draws the State Partys attention to

its General Recommendation 19 (1995) concerning the prevention, prohibition and

eradication of all policies and practices of racial segregation and apartheid, and urges the

State party to take immediate measures to prohibit and eradicate any such policies or

practices which severely and disproportionately affect the Palestinian population in theOccupied Palestinian Territory."

10. Under ICCPR Israel is obligated to create and maintain conditions that will ensure

Palestinians realization of their rights to self-determination, participation without

discrimination in public affairs, and their right, as individuals and collectively, to develop and

advance their respective communities economically, socially, culturally, and politically,

according to their needs. That assertion has been authoritatively upheld by the ICJ in the

aforementioned 2004 Advisory Opinion, directly relating to ICCPR: "The Court also notes


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that the principle of self-determination of peoples has been enshrined in the United

Nations Charter and reaffirmed by the General Assembly in resolution 2625 (XXV) cited

above, pursuant to which "Every State has the duty to refrain from any forcible actionwhich deprives peoples referred to [in that resolution] [] of their right to self-

determination." Article 1 common to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and

Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights reaffirms the

right of all peoples to self-determination, and lays upon the States parties the obligation

to promote the realization of that right and to respect it, in conformity with the

provisions of the United Nations Charter. [] Israel is bound to comply with its obligation

to respect the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and its obligations

under international humanitarian law and international human rights law. The Court

would observe that the obligations violated by Israel include certain obligations erga

omnes. [] The obligations erga omnes violated by Israel are the obligation to respect

the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, and certain of its

obligations under international humanitarian law."

11. As the Occupying Power, Israel is obligated to safeguard the homes of the protected

persons under IHL (namely the Hague Regulations and the Fourth Geneva Convention, both

of which constitute binding customary international law). Israels claim that the Fourth

Geneva Convention does not apply to the OPT has been consistently rejected by the

international community, including the UN Security Council and the International Court of

Justice. Additionally, Israels policies and practices in East Jerusalem and Area C of the West

Bank may very well constitute inhuman acts under Article 7(1)(d) and war crimes under

Article 8(2)(a)(iv) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, as well as a

violation of the UN Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of

Apartheid of 1973.

III. East Jerusalem

12. East Jerusalem is currently home to approximately 300,000 Palestinians. They experience

racial discrimination in many spheres of life, from education to cultural development to

housing, and are the subject of a process of ethnic displacement that is the cumulative result

of the policies and practices applied to them, particularly those pertaining to housing and

legal status. Numerous official government documents express the deliberate intent to limit

the Palestinian population growth in the city of Jerusalem.

13. Israels policies and practices vis--vis Palestinian East Jerusalemites constitute

institutionalized discrimination and domination of one population over the other with the

intent to perpetuate this domination through strengthening the numbers and socio-economic well-being of one population at the expense of another. The maintenance of a

demographic balance based on ethnicity or nationality constitutes, prima facie, an illegal and

repugnant practice of discrimination that is reminiscent of the motivation behind policies of

racial segregation and apartheid.

14. What is more, the results of these policies are already tangible. Israels discriminatory

planning and housing policies and practices in East Jerusalem, including administrative home

demolitions and discriminatory residency policies (particularly since the start of the Second


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Intifada), have set into motion a process of ethnic displacement of parts of the Palestinian

population of East Jerusalem. Should the status quo of policies and practices remain or

worsen this process of ethnic displacement will only intensify to the point it will not bereversible.

The status of permanent resident and its impact on East Jerusalemites' lives:

15. Of the over 300,000 Palestinians residents in East Jerusalem, the vast majority are

recognized under Israeli law as permanent residents rather than citizens of Israel. This

reduces native Palestinian Jerusalemites' legal status to that of foreign citizens resident in

Israel, thus exposing them to the vulnerability of their residency rights being revoked and

consequently losing the social services to which they are legally entitled. The alternative

categorization of permanent resident, far from creating a viable alternative is easily revoked,

consequently denying Palestinian Jerusalemites their residency rights and access to basic

social services. Following the Israeli High Court of Justice ruling in the case of MubarakAwad, retaining permanent residency is conditional on complying with Israel's centre of

life policy and thus may be revoked at the discretion of the Minister of the Interior. This

policy dictates that if an individual does not centre their life in Jerusalem, their residency and

its accompanying rights expire.

16. Maintaining actual presence in Jerusalem is a determining factor in retaining residency,

as residing outside East Jerusalem for 7 years or more will trigger revocation. Recent years

have seen a sharp surge with over 4,500 revocations in 2008 alone, resulting in over 14,000

revocations to date, some of which occurred automatically and without due process.

Building permits:

17. Since 1967, the Palestinian population of East Jerusalem has increased from 66,000 to

300,000. In order to accommodate for this natural growth, the construction of an additional

1,500 housing units is required per year; yet on average only 400 units are authorised.

Indeed, Israel operates a Kafkaesque housing policy in which Palestinian residents in East

Jerusalem are categorically denied the right to build legally effecting a marked deterioration

rather than continuous improvement in their living conditions, and violating their right to

safe, permanent housing.

18. Since 2002, new procedures were put into place increasing the requirements for

obtaining a building permit, including proof of ownership of the land on which the applicant

wishes to build, beyond requirements of the Planning and Building Law. Until the new

procedures were placed in effect, the Jerusalem Municipality was satisfied with the law'sproof of ownership procedures. But in 2002, the rules were tightened supposedly due to

concerns of fraud. The new procedures virtually guarantee that most Palestinian East

Jerusalemites cannot meet the requirements of obtaining a permit.

19. While proving ownership in West Jerusalem is a simple procedure conducted through

the Property Registry, it is much more difficult in East Jerusalem, given the fact that the

majority of the area was not registered by the British or the Jordanians prior to 1967, and in

that year Israel froze the process of land registration. In fact, the ownership of over half of


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the land in East Jerusalem is not registered, thereby rendering it effectively impossible under

the new procedures for landowning residents to obtain permits for new construction in their

land.

IV. Area C

20. Following the 1995 Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and the

subsequent agreed division of the Occupied West Bank, Area C - consisting of 62% of the

West Bank - remained under full Israeli security and civil control, an arrangement that has

remained following the halt in negotiations. This partition severely fragments Palestinian

communities as well as isolates a great expanse of rural area in Area C, while enclosing

heavily built-up enclaves in Areas A and B. Thus, while 150,000 Palestinians reside in Area C,

the remaining 2.3 million are squeezed into 38% of the territory.

21. Palestinian presence in Area C has continuously been undermined through differentadministrative measures, planning regulations and other means adopted by Israel as

Occupying Power, including wanton demolition of Palestinian residential and livelihood-

related structures. The increasing depopulation and integration of Area C into Israel proper

has left Palestinian communities in the area ever more isolated and at growing risk of

displacement, while the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements in Area C continues to

flourish under detailed plans approved by the Israel Administration which incorporate

expansion areas nine times the size of the current built-up areas.

22. If current trends are not stopped and reversed, which seems unfeasible, the

establishment of a viable Palestinian state within the pre-1967 borders seems more remote

than ever. In actuality, the window of opportunity for a two-state solution has closed, mainly

due to the continued expansion of Israeli settlements and access restrictions for Palestiniansin Area C, the only contiguous area in the West Bank surrounding Area A and B. Moreover,

Israeli Parliament Members, hailing from the Likud ruling party and other members of the

coalition government have recently established a parliamentary caucus for the annexation of

Area C. The caucus introduced a draft bill in May 2012, calling for the application of Israeli

sovereignty to Area C of the West Bank. Deliberations on the draft bill were postponed by

the Prime Minister, but are likely to resume shortly in the form of draft bill targeting

particular areas (see Jordan Valley). The parliamentary caucus relates to the "Partial

Annexation and Pacification" program advocated for by the former Prime Minister Chief of

Staff, explicitly calling for the de jure annexation of 62% of the West Bank in order to stifle

the Palestinian people aspiration for self-determination, and to solidify Israeli dominance.

Jordan Valley:

23. Since its 1967 occupation, Israel has coveted the Jordan Valley for its economic potential,

and not the least for its strategic development importance in forestalling a viable Palestinian

State. In his May 2011 speech to the US Congress, Israeli PM Binyamin Netanyahu asserted

that in any final status agreement which may be reached with Palestinians, Israel would

retain control over the Jordan Valley. The last decades have seen a policy of colonization,

with 2011, and more so in the first five months of 2012, setting an all-time high in the

expansion of settlements at the expense of Palestinian communities.


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24. In 2011, house demolitions and forced evictions in the Jordan Valley have increased

fivefold, in comparison with 2010. 199 structures, 44% of which were family homes, havebeen demolished, displacing 401 people and dispersing entire communities. These

constitute 40% of residential structures demolished, and 37% of people displaced in the OPT

in 2011.

25. In the first five months of 2012, 116 structures were demolished in the Jordan Valley

(39% of the total structures demolished in the West Bank), of which 39 were family homes,

resulting in the displacement of 197 people (37% of the total number of people displaced in

the West Bank), and adversely affecting the livelihood of a further 772 people (42% of the

total number of people affected in the West Bank).

26. In July 2012 the parliamentary caucus for the annexation of Area C, headed by MK Miri

Regev (Likud) tabled a draft bill calling for the de-jure annexation of the Jordan Valley, withthe exception of areas under the nominal control of the Palestinian Authority (Areas A and B

which constitute less than 13% of the Jordan Valley). The draft bill necessities the application

of Israeli sovereignty to all Jewish territory and settlements in the Jordan Valley, referring to

the Palestinian statehood initiative as the pretext for annexation at this time. The draft bill

further cites the long standing position of Israeli governments that in any final status

agreement signed with the Palestinian Authority, Jewish settlements will remain under

Israeli sovereignty. Moreover, the draft bill cites Israeli government claims that in any final

status agreement, the Jordan Valley and its Jewish settlements will remain under Israeli

sovereignty.

Greater Jerusalem:

28. The Palestinian-Bedouin communities living in the hills to the east of Jerusalem (20

communities in housing more than 3,000 people in all) are at an exceedingly growing risk of

displacement and forcible transfer. The communities have been informed by the Israeli

authorities that they have no option but to leave the area, as part of a larger plan to relocate

Bedouin communities living in Area C ( Jerusalem periphery, Jordan Valley, and south

Hebron Hills), where Israel retains control over security as well as planning and zoning. In the

first five months of 2012, 62 structures were demolished in the Greater Jerusalem Area (21%

of the total structures demolished in the West Bank), of which 25 were family homes (27%

of the total residential structures demolished in the West Bank), resulting in the

displacement of 175 people (33% of the total number of people displaced in the West Bank).

29. The Bedouin homes are currently located in an area that holds strategic significance orfurther expansion of illegal Israeli settlements. This includes the E1 plan, which foresees the

expansion of Maale Adumim, an illegal Israeli settlement, and its linkage to Judaized East

Jerusalem and Jordan Valley settlements. If implemented, these plans, along with Separation

Barrier construction in the area, risk preventing Palestinian growth and development and

disrupting the territorial contiguity of a future Palestinian state.

30. The forcible transfer of the Bedouin would also be detrimental to their semi-nomadic

way of life. As available land shrinks, Bedouin refugees are faced with nowhere to go. Prior


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to Israels 1967 Occupation of the West Bank, they were herding their livestock between

Ramallah, Wadi Qelt and Jerusalem, maintaining the traditional Bedouin lifestyle. After

1967, Israel expropriated most of the Arab al-Jahalin lands and tribe members were confinedto an area east of Jerusalem, known as Greater Jerusalem.

Threat of Displacement:

31. In the first five months of 2012, at least 280 stop work and demolition orders were

issued by Israeli authorities in Area C of the West Bank. 42% of the orders were issued in the

Hebron District, 20% in the Jenin District (affecting Jordan Valley communities), and 11% in

the Ramallah District (affecting Greater Jerusalem communities).

V. Impact of Prolonged Occupation

32. The illegal Israeli practice of demolishing homes, basic infrastructure and the sources oflivelihoods continues to shatter Palestinian communities in East Jerusalem and Area C.

Demolitions are almost invariably in contravention of international law and lead to a

significant deterioration in living conditions for entire communities. As a result, large

numbers of Palestinians face increased poverty and long-term instability, as well as limited

access to basic services such as education, health care, water and sanitation. The destruction

must be discontinued, and the damage remedied if Israel is to meet its obligations under

international law to guarantee the human rights of Palestinians.

33. However, for a viable, just solution to be attained, and for the realization of the alienable

right to national self-determination, the very nature and legality of occupation must be

addressed.

34. In a December 2011 controversial ruling on the legality of Israeli owned quarries in the

West Bank, the Israeli High Court of Justice held that the unique characteristics of Israel's

belligerent occupation of the OPT , primarily its duration, grant additional powers and rights

to the occupying power under international humanitarian law. The Courts misguided

interpretation of IHL seeks to modify its provisions on the pretext of prolonged occupation

to allow for economic exploitation of occupied territory. This dangerous approach is

reflected in the long-term, entrenched relationship of occupied and occupier in the OPT and

East Jerusalem, starkly contradicting the Palestinian aspiration for national self-

determination.

35. In July 2012, the Edmond Levy Committee appointed by the government to explore the

legalization of settlement outposts, completed its work and its report was published. RetiredIsraeli Supreme Court Judge Edmond Levy and other Committee members (retired District

Court Judge Techia Shapiro, and Adv. Alan Baker) upheld the legal doctrine of the Missing

Reversioner, claiming that the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention do not apply in

the case of Israeli occupation of Palestinian land and people. According to the Committee,

the Geneva Conventions apply only to the sovereign territory of a High Contracting Party,

and therefore do not apply, since Jordan never exercised sovereignty over the region. The

Missing Reversioner doctrine was authoritatively negated by the ICJ Advisory Opinion on the

Wall (2004) Under customary international law, the Court observes, these were therefore


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occupied territories in which Israel had the status of occupying Power. Subsequent events

in these territories have done nothing to alter this situation. The Court concludes that all

these territories (including East Jerusalem) remain occupied territories and that Israel hascontinued to have the status of occupying Power." While the recommendations have no

legally binding effect, they signify a precarious approach towards the emulsion of occupied

territory into the recognized sovereign territory of Israel, while disenfranchising its

Palestinian inhabitants.

36. The tension between an occupying powers duty to maintain the status quo in an

occupied territory (presumably in anticipation of a permanent sovereign quickly assuming

control over the territory, immediately following the pacification of armed conflict) and its

duty to maintain public order and safety grows ever more significant in the case of a

prolonged occupation, such as Israels. It must therefore be kept in mind with regard to the

right to development that calling on Israel to create conditions for Palestinians to develop

and progress is potentially at odds with its obligation to refrain from making legal andphysical changes to the territory. However, ICAHD firmly holds that despite the complexities

of the situation, Israels occupation can no longer be considered temporary and that other

obligations should be invoked, such as the right to development and the right to self-

determination

37. In a short-term occupation, this tension would seem to favour leaving the occupied

territory and its laws as untouched as possible, until such time as a legitimate sovereign

assumes power and enacts the necessary laws, policies and practices to maintain safety and

order. Leaving the laws and urban plans of the occupied territory as they were when

occupation began (in this case, more than four decades ago) could have detrimental

consequences for Palestinians. Such consequences might violate the occupying powers

duties under IHL and IHRL. We further wish to recall the statement made by the SpecialRapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since

1967 Prof. Richard Falk (November 2010): The Palestinian experience suggests the need

for a new protocol of international humanitarian law, some outer time limit after which

further occupation becomes a distinct violation of international law, and if not promptly

corrected, constitutes a new type of crime against humanity."

38. ICAHD firmly holds that the UN General Assembly should call for an ICJ Advisory Opinion

that establishes a new normative paradigm of prolonged occupation; reinforces the

alienable human rights of the Palestinian people to development and self-determination;

and depicts the scope and magnitude of Israel's illegal policies and practices in the OPT,

beyond what are IHL breaches and what was referred to in the 2004 Advisory Opinion; and

upholds the legal obligations of all states and international organizations to cooperate toend Israel's breaches, and prolonged occupation.

VI. Recommendations

ICAHD encourages the Special Committee to adopt the following conclusions and

recommendations:


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39. To express deep concern that Israel refuses to apply obligations contained in human

rights treaties to the Palestinian population in the OPT, or to report on the situation of

Palestinians in the occupied territory, and reiterate its position that Israel must respect,protect and fulfill Palestinians rights codified in the human rights treaty system, and report

accordingly.

40. To register grave concern with Israel's continuing deplorable practices of house

demolitions, land expropriation, and its adoption of policies resulting in inadequate housing

and living conditions for Palestinians living under prolonged occupation.

41. To register grave concern that Israel's settlement policy in the OPT and policy of

displacement towards Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem amounts to forced population

transfer, and may in some cases amount to a war crime.

42. To insert the issue of the legality of a prolonged Israeli occupation, which has outlivedthe armed conflict that spawned it by 45 years and with no time limit in sight, into the

Special Committee's agenda that explores the legal implications of a prolonged and

indefinite occupation that has morphed into a new type of crime against humanity, and to

commission a study on the adequacy of international humanitarian law to cover situations of

prolonged occupation, and provide Israel and the international community with appropriate

recommendations.

43. We further call the Special Committee to recommend to the UN General Assembly to call

for an ICJ Advisory Opinion that establishes a new normative paradigm of prolonged

occupation; reinforces the alienable human rights of the Palestinian people to development

and self-determination; and depicts the scope and magnitude of Israel's illegal policies and

practices in the OPT, beyond what are IHL breaches and what was referred to in the 2004Advisory Opinion; and upholds the legal obligations of all states and international

organizations to cooperate to end Israel's breaches, and prolonged occupation.

ICAHD recommends the Special Committee urge Israel to:

44. End the prolonged occupation of the Palestinian Territory, and respect, protect and fulfill

Palestinians' right to national self-determination.

45. Immediately cease to demolish Palestinian houses, and infrastructure, which causes

displacement and dispossession.

46. Immediately cancel and cease issuing all stop work, demolition and eviction ordersagainst Palestinian homes and structures in the OPT, including East Jerusalem. Israel should

grant building permits for Palestinians living in Area C and East Jerusalem in a manner

consistent with the development needs of the communities and their status as protected

persons under IHL and IHRL. In the context of planning schemes, Israel should grant

retroactive building permits to reverse the impact of past discriminatory policies.

47. Transfer powers and responsibilities related to planning and zoning in the West Bank,

including Area C, to Palestinian jurisdiction in accordance with international law and bi-


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lateral agreements, to allow for genuine involvement of Palestinian communities in the

planning process.

48. Eliminate any policy of demographic make-up' from its Jerusalem Master Plan and

ensure non-discrimination in zoning and planning, municipal services, and budget allocation.

49. Ensure all refugees and internally displaced persons, which have been forcibly displaced

be allowed to return to their homes in safety and dignity, and be given compensation for any

harm they have suffered, including the destruction of land, homes and property, in

accordance with UN Resolution 194.

40. ICAHD calls all states and international organizations to cooperate to bring an end to

Israeli prolonged occupation, and illegal practices and policies that arise from it. All states

and international organizations must consider appropriate measures to exert pressure on

Israel to end the prolonged occupation, including an ICJ Advisory Opinion on the legality ofIsraeli practices arising from prolonged occupation, appropriate sanctions, and the

severing of diplomatic relations. Further, ICAHD calls for the suspension of the EU-Israel

Association Agreement, and the US-Israel Free Trade Agreement, until Israel complies with

international law, and ends its illegal policies and practices and prolonged occupation.

Documents

Special Committee 12