Israel Approves Advancement Of The E1 Settlement Project

Wednesday December 05, 2012 22:42 by IMEMC & Agencies

The Israeli Civil Administration Office in the occupied West Bank has officially approved “the advancement” of the recent decision made by the government of Benjamin Netanyahu to build thousands units for Jewish settlers in area E1, located between occupied East Jerusalem and the Ma’ale Adummim illegal settlement bloc.

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The project will now be published for the Israeli public for appeals before actual implementation starts.

The approved plan includes building a commercial center, educational facilities, and 2000 housing units for Jewish settlers.

Israel claimed that approving the new project came in response to the UN General Assembly vote that granted Palestine a nonmember state status.

Israel’s announcement of the new project pushed several countries around the world to criticize Tel Aviv for its plan that will only lead to further complications in the efforts to resume direct peace talks, and also stated that this project destroys the chances of achieving a two-state solution.

Israeli daily, Maariv, reported that Israel knows that the only stance that counts is the stance of the United States, therefore, Tel Aviv decided to ignore European condemnations and to only respond to US statements, adding that the E1 project is still in its planning stage, and its implementation can be stopped at any given moment.

Maariv added that senior political sources in Israel said that the Israel’s National Security Adviser, Ya’akov Amidror, stated that Israel is not interested in any tension in the relations with the United States, and that Netanyahu “is trying to contain the situation”.

The paper also said that senior Israeli officials informed the United States that Israel will not start the construction, and claimed that what happened is just an announcement and approval of the new construction project in its initial phase.

An Israeli official stated that Israel is “not interested in stopping the peace process”, adding that the strong European response condemning the new Israeli plan could push Israel to even halt its plan as Tel Aviv does not want a new diplomatic crisis with international countries, mainly its strongest ally and largest financial supporter, the United States.

The official claimed that the main issue is that Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, does not want to resume peace talks with Israel despite the fact that he said that he will be willing to resume peace talks after obtaining the UN member status, and added that “Abbas, not Israel, is causing the impasse in peace talks”.

Despite international condemnations, the a subsidiary committee of the Regional Construction and Planning committee of the Israeli Civil Administration Office went ahead and discussed the new construction plan in E1, but Israeli sources claimed that this issue could take months or even years adding that “only the Israeli political leadership has the authority to determine when or if the constructions will actually start”.

There are dozens of Israeli settlements, including several settlement blocs, in the occupied West Bank, in the occupied West Bank, including in an around occupied East Jerusalem, and the number of Jewish settlers currently live there is more than half a million.

The new illegal Israeli plan includes the construction of more than 7500 apartments and hundreds of rooms in hotels Israel intends to construct in both the so-called E1 and the Givat Hamatos planned settlements in occupied East Jerusalem and on its southern border.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian President said that the Palestinian Authority will do whatever it can to block the illegal Israeli project using all available legal and diplomatic means; Israeli Ynet News reported.

Abbas said that the new Israeli plan is a Red Line and added that the Palestinian UN representative has contacted UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, and the head of the UN Security Council to discuss the possibility of issuing a resolution against the recent illegal Israeli plan.

Furthermore, Chief Palestinian Negotiator and diplomatic aid to Abbas, Dr. Saeb Erekat, said that the United States should pressure Israel into voiding its new plan if it wants to avoid a Security Council decision on the issue.

By accepting the two-state solution, the Palestinian leadership recognized the state of Israel that was built on around %82 of the historic land of Palestine, while Israel continues to build and construct settlements in large areas of the remaining %18 where the Palestinian leadership is hoping to establish its state with occupied East Jerusalem as its capital.





LAW

“States may not deport or transfer parts of their own civilian population into a territory they occupy.”

Summary

State practice establishes this rule as a norm of customary international law applicable in international armed conflicts.
International armed conflicts

The prohibition on deporting or transferring parts of a State’s own civilian population into the territory it occupies is set forth in the Fourth Geneva Convention.[1]

It is a grave breach of Additional Protocol I.[2]

Under the Statute of the International Criminal Court, “the transfer, directly or indirectly, by the Occupying Power of parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies” constitutes a war crime in international armed conflicts.[3]

Many military manuals prohibit the deportation or transfer by a party to the conflict of parts of its civilian population into the territory it occupies.[4]

This rule is included in the legislation of numerous States.[5]

Official statements and reported practice also support the prohibition on transferring one’s own civilian population into occupied territory.[6]

Attempts to alter the demographic composition of an occupied territory have been condemned by the UN Security Council.[7]

In 1992, it called for the cessation of attempts to change the ethnic composition of the population, anywhere in the former Yugoslavia.[8]

Similarly, the UN General Assembly and UN Commission on Human Rights have condemned settlement practices.[9]

According to the final report of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights Dimensions of Population Transfer, including the Implantation of Settlers and Settlements, “the implantation of settlers” is unlawful and engages State responsibility and the criminal responsibility of individuals.[10]

In 1981, the 24th International Conference of the Red Cross reaffirmed that “settlements in occupied territory are incompatible with article 27 and 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention”.[11]

In the Case of the Major War Criminals in 1946, the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg found two of the accused guilty of attempting the “Germanization” of occupied territories.[12]

References

[1] Fourth Geneva Convention, Article 49, sixth paragraph (cited in Vol. II, Ch. 38, § 334).

[2] Additional Protocol I, Article 85(4)(a) (adopted by consensus) (ibid., § 335).

[3] ICC Statute, Article 8(2)(b)(viii) (ibid., § 336).

[4] See, e.g., the military manuals of Argentina (ibid., §§ 346–347), Australia (ibid., § 348), Canada (ibid., § 349), Croatia (ibid., § 350), Hungary (ibid., § 351), Italy (ibid., § 352), Netherlands (ibid., § 353), New Zealand (ibid., § 354), Spain (ibid., § 355), Sweden (ibid., § 357), Switzerland (ibid., § 357), United Kingdom (ibid., § 358) and United States (ibid., § 359).

[5] See, e.g., the legislation of Armenia (ibid., § 361), Australia (ibid., §§ 362–363), Azerbaijan (ibid., §§ 364–365), Bangladesh (ibid., § 366), Belarus (ibid., § 367), Belgium (ibid., § 368), Bosnia and Herzegovina (ibid., § 369), Canada (ibid., §§ 371–372), Congo (ibid., § 373), Cook Islands (ibid., § 374), Croatia (ibid., § 375), Cyprus (ibid., § 376), Czech Republic (ibid., § 377), Germany (ibid., § 379), Georgia (ibid., § 380), Ireland (ibid., § 381), Mali (ibid., § 384), Republic of Moldova (ibid., § 385), Netherlands (ibid., § 386), New Zealand (ibid., §§ 387–388), Niger (ibid., § 390), Norway (ibid., § 391), Slovakia (ibid., § 392), Slovenia (ibid., § 393), Spain (ibid., § 394), Tajikistan (ibid., § 395), United Kingdom (ibid., §§ 397–398), Yugoslavia (ibid., § 399) and Zimbabwe (ibid., § 400); see also the draft legislation of Argentina (ibid., § 360), Burundi (ibid., § 370), Jordan (ibid., § 382), Lebanon (ibid., § 383) and Trinidad and Tobago (ibid., § 396).

[6] See, e.g., the statements of Kuwait (ibid., § 405) and United States (ibid., §§ 406–407) and the reported practice of Egypt (ibid., § 402) and France (ibid., § 403).

[7] See, e.g., UN Security Council, Res. 446 , 452 and 476 (ibid., § 408), Res. 465 (ibid., § 409) and Res. 677 (ibid., § 410).

[8] UN Security Council, Res. 752 (ibid., § 411).

[9] See, e.g., UN General Assembly, Res. 36/147 C, 37/88 C, 38/79 D, 39/95 D and 40/161 D (ibid., § 412) and Res. 54/78 (ibid., § 405); UN Commission on Human Rights, Res. 2001/7 (ibid., § 413).

[10] UN Sub-Commission on Human Rights, Final report of the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights Dimensions of Population Transfer, including the Implantation of Settlers and Settlements (ibid., § 415).

[11] 24th International Conference of the Red Cross, Res. III (ibid., § 419).

[12] International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, Case of the Major War Criminals, Judgement (ibid., § 421).


Still live in fairy-tale-land about Israel? Time to wake up: The Map of the “Greater Israel” even is hammered on the currency:All facts at Storify continuously updated. Read what Israeli ‘leaders’ have said and done even before (peace) talks and how their actions contradict the reality and ugly facts which they try to hide from you:

You can forget all details. Save yourself time. It is only about Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine

Israel. Not looking for Peace. Nor Talks. But this…

The facts. Mainly Israeli sources. Continuously updated


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