According to a Basic Rule in International Law, the West Bank Is Part of Israel

March 14 2016

While it has become commonplace to refer to Israel’s control of areas it seized during the Six-Day War as an “occupation,” and one of questionable legality, Avi Bell and Eugene Kontorovich argue that, according to a widely accepted principle of international law, Israel’s claims to the territory are wholly legitimate. This principle, known as uti possidetis juris (“as you possess under law”), has been crucial in establishing the borders of recently created states in Africa and Eastern Europe. They write:

Remarkably, despite the intensity of the debates, little attention has been paid to the relevance of the doctrine of uti possidetis juris to resolving legal aspects of the dispute [concerning Israel’s borders]. . . .

Summarizing the operation of the rule, Steven Ratner explains [that it] “provides that states emerging from decolonization shall presumptively inherit the colonial administrative borders that they held at the time of independence.” Recent decades have shown that uti possidetis juris applies to all cases where the borders of new states have to be determined, and not just in its original context of decolonization. . . .

Israel’s independence would thus appear to fall squarely within the bounds of circumstances that trigger the rule of uti possidetis juris. Applying the rule would appear to dictate that Israel’s borders are those of the [British] Palestine Mandate that preceded it, except where otherwise agreed upon by Israel and its relevant neighbor. . . . Given the location of [these borders], applying the doctrine of uti possidetis juris to Israel would mean that Israel has territorial sovereignty over all the disputed areas of Jerusalem [as well as] the West Bank and Gaza, except to the degree that Israel has voluntarily yielded sovereignty since its independence.

Read more at Social Science Research Network

More about: British Mandate, Gaza Strip, International Law, Israel & Zionism, Jerusalem, West Bank

The Mass Expulsion of Palestinians Is No Solution. Neither Are Any of the Usual Plans for Gaza

Examining the Trump administration’s proposals for the people of Gaza, Danielle Pletka writes:

I do not believe that the forced cleansing of Gaza—a repetition of what every Arab country did to the hundreds of thousands of Arab Jews in 1948— is a “solution.” I don’t think Donald Trump views that as a permanent solution either (read his statement), though I could be wrong. My take is that he believes Gaza must be rebuilt under new management, with only those who wish to live there resettling the land.

The time has long since come for us to recognize that the establishment doesn’t have the faintest clue what to do about Gaza. Egypt doesn’t want it. Jordan doesn’t want it. Iran wants it, but only as cannon fodder. The UN wants it, but only to further its anti-Semitic agenda and continue milking cash from the West. Jordanians, Lebanese, and Syrians blame Palestinians for destroying their countries.

Negotiations with Hamas have not worked. Efforts to subsume Gaza under the Palestinian Authority have not worked. Rebuilding has not worked. Destruction will not work. A “two-state solution” has not arrived, and will not work.

So what’s to be done? If you live in Washington, New York, London, Paris, or Berlin, your view is that the same answers should definitely be tried again, but this time we mean it. This time will be different. . . . What could possibly make you believe this other than ideological laziness?

Read more at What the Hell Is Going On?

More about: Donald Trump, Gaza Strip, Palestinians