Statement on the war in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (“OPT”)
/We recognise that the Israeli State is perpetrating a system of apartheid[1] throughout historic Palestine, including in the OPT, in accordance with the racist ideology of Zionism. Along with the International Court of Justice, and most jurists, we recognise the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination. We recognise that Palestinians have a legally and morally unimpeachable right to resist Zionist colonialism, occupation, and ethnic cleansing.
This brutalisation is endorsed by so-called “rule-of-law” states that are funding the increased militarisation of Israel and the occupation. This has created an untenable situation of extreme and daily violence and conflict. We recognise that the fundamental cause of violence throughout historic Palestine is Israel's settler colonial project, and the Zionist ideology that animates it.
In the current context, we do not condone any acts of unlawful violence. We vehemently oppose the brutalisation and killing of civilians.
We note with grave concern reports that Israel is now preparing for a full scale ground invasion of the Gaza strip.
The State of Palestine, while recognised by the International Criminal Court and many states, is denied sovereignty, and does not have control over its own borders, air space or natural resources. The West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem (the territory of the State of Palestine) are occupied territory, as confirmed by the International Court of Justice, the UN Security Council, and the UN Commission on Human Rights (now the UN Human Rights Council).
The occupation of Palestine is decades-long and marked by disproportionate violence against Palestinians, as recognised by international bodies, for example:
The Goldstone Report concluded that Israel’s deliberate attacks on the population of Gaza during Operation Cast Iron Lead in 2008-9 constituted grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention and thus constituted a war crime
The UN Report into Operation Pillar of Defence in 2012 concluded that Israel did not uphold the principle of proportionality
The 2014 UN Inquiry Report into Operation Protective Edge concluded that the massive levels of destruction of residential and infrastructure “may have been adopted [by Israel] as a tactic of war”, which would constitute a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
The UN Gaza Protest Inquiry concluded that the force used by the Israeli security forces in 2018-19 risked violating the principles of proportionality.
Israel has formulated the Dahiya Doctrine to guide its military operations in Gaza. This is a policy of strategic deterrence and asymmetric warfare. It aims use of disproportionate force to cause great damage and destruction, and to increase the cost (financial and human) of post-conflict recovery.
This puts Palestinian people at particular risk of ethnic cleansing given both historic precedent and current Israeli retaliation supported implicitly and explicitly by powerful Western actors.
The international community
Despite recognition that Israel is an occupying power perpetrating war crimes and a system of apartheid in Palestine, there is an ongoing lack of accountability, including:
Failure to uphold the 2004 ruling of the International Criminal Court that the “Separation Wall” separating Israel from the West Bank, whose route does not follow the “Green Line” (the internationally recognized border between Israel and the OPT), violates international law;
Failure to implement the findings of the UN independent Commission of Inquiry on the 2014 Gaza conflict, and the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry on the 2018 Protests in the OPT;
Failure to take action following UN condemnations of Israel’s occupation and violations of international law due to the US’s repeated use of its power of veto; and
Failure to hold Israel accountable through Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement which requires respect for human rights and democratic principles.
We recognise that this is a decades-long political problem which the current international legal framework, without effective measures to enforce accountability, has proved inadequate to solve.
The UK
The UK continues to allow arms to be exported to Israel and criminalises protestors who target arms factories. In the past weeks, we have seen those who publicly express views in favour of Palestine being victimised. We are committed to using our expertise to defend those who are targeted in this way.
In the last week, the UK political elite has condemned the acts of Hamas but stayed silent on the systematic brutalisation of Palestinian people and the war crimes perpetrated by Israel: those happening right now and those which have taken place over the past decades.
Sir Keir Starmer is the leader of the Labour Party in the UK and a former human rights lawyer. When asked on national radio whether cutting electricity and food were contrary to international law, Sir Kier said “…Israel has a right to defend herself. It is an ongoing hostage situation and responsibility lies in one place, that is with Hamas.”
This amounts to an endorsement of collective punishment, war crimes and ongoing occupation. UN rapporteur on the OPT Francesca Albanese commented that “It is extremely concerning that a senior politician expresses support for the commission of war crime and, potentially, a crime against humanity: such is intentional starvation of civilians when part of a widespread or systematic attack on a civilian population.”
We expressly condemn Sir Keir’s uncritical endorsement of Israeli war crimes as deeply irresponsible, and as undermining international law. We also note the broader parallels in the usage of the “terrorism” label to legitimise the brutalisation of Muslim people globally through the so-called War on Terror which has seen states including the UK engage in murder and displacement of millions.
We call on Sir Keir to withdraw his remarks, which are incompatible with his duties as a lawyer, a politician and as a human being.
As socialists and as lawyers, the Haldane Society supports peaceful negotiation and stands in unflinching solidarity with the people of Palestine in their justified struggle to liberate themselves from Israeli colonialism and apartheid. It isn’t merely that the Israeli government should withdraw from Gaza, but that Israel’s apartheid regime and the Zionist ideology that animates it should be dismantled entirely.
We will be making a donation in solidarity to Medical Aid for Palestinians
[1] Apartheid is defined as a crime against humanity by the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. It is also classified as a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions when practiced in situations of armed conflict and as such is a war crime. The Human Sciences Research Council of South Africa, the Israeli human rights NGO, B’Tselem, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, multiple Palestinian NGOs including Al Haq, and two former UN Special Rapporteurs on Palestinian human rights have concluded that Israel has instituted an apartheid regime over Palestinians.
