On this day in 1967, the Israeli Occupation Forces launched a widespread offensive on three Arab countries; Egypt, Jordan and Syria. The invading forces managed within six days to occupy the Palestinian Territories that were at the time under Jordanian and Egyptian jurisdiction. (This included the Gaza Strip, the West Bank including Jerusalem, the Egyptian Peninsula – Sinai, and large parts of the Syrian Golan Heights.)

Today, June 5, 2007, commemorates forty years of occupation in the Palestinian Territories. To this day Israel is still an occupying power. Israel has disregarded international law and used acts of aggression against Palestinians specifically disregarding international humanitarian law (IHL) and human rights standards. These laws prohibit the use of force or threats in order to occupy or control other territories. Israel continues to recklessly breech IHL and the standards guaranteed in the international agreements and conventions on human rights to which Israel is a party. These violations of law include; targeting & torturing Palestinian civilians, shelling civilian neighborhoods, targeting civilians with all forms of weapons, restricting Palestinians freedom of movement by splitting communities & isolating part of them from another, confiscating Palestinian land for Jewish settlement construction, continued home demolitions, arbitrary arrests & imprisonment, and subsequent destruction of Palestinian infrastructure & the economy.

At the end of 2002, the Israeli Occupation Forces began constructing the Annexation (apartheid) Wall inside the Palestinian Territories, illegally redefining the Green-Line barrier by tens of meters and in some places as far into the territories as a few kilometers from the original boundaries. According to a report published by Mr. John Dugard, the UN Special Reporter in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (oPt), the wall upon completion will reach 703 kilometers long and will effectively steal around 46% of the land belonging to the West Bank. The west side of the wall will confiscate about 10% of this land by isolation and an additional 4% of land from the Jerusalem area alone. The wall if constructed from the eastern side, as it is planned, will take over 27% of the fertile valley land. In the end, these totals combined with the Jewish settlements and bypass roads which comprise 3.5% of land, will confiscate almost half of the current West Bank land allocation.

This apartheid wall brings with it tragic consequences. The wall will not only divide but also confine many Palestinians via its absurd route. When the wall is completed there will be a total of 17 villages on its western side (between the Green Line and the wall) occupied by about 28,000 residents. On the eastern side there will be about 54 villages and residential compounds encircled partially or entirely by the wall. These communities have a population of around 250,000 residents. Adding to the confusion and turmoil, residents in East Jerusalem, with its 22 neighborhoods and 230,000 residents, will be denied access to “Jerusalem” due to annexation of Palestinian land and subsequent military checkpoints. 100,000 Residents of these communities will be ineligible for entry into Jerusalem, while the rest will be secluded in Jerusalem, denied entry rights to the West Bank and all other parts of the oPt.

Furthermore, the wall has clear political implications boldly annexing and confiscating Palestinian land. According to recent facts and statistics there will be around 48 settlements to the west of wall, comprised of around 180,000 settlers. In the east, another 69 settlements will remain where 58,000 people currently reside; in addition to the 12 settlements east of Jerusalem where 200,000 settlers currently reside.

The construction of the apartheid wall in the Palestinian Territories is illegitimate and contravenes principles of international contemporary law. As the wall continues to develop by the annexation of Palestinian land for Israeli settlements, it is establishing situations and conditions that will likely be impossible to change in the near future. Additionally, the construction of this wall violates the Fourth Geneva Convention with regards to the protection of civilians in times of war, the universal agreement of economic, social and cultural rights (1966), the Convention on the Rights of a Child (CRC - 1989), as well as many other basic rights and privileges guaranteed by various principles including; the right to work, receive an education, receive vital healthcare services, own property, as well as many other basic human rights for children and women.

The policies adopted by the Israeli occupation forces aim to impose intense pressure on Palestinians to give up their land and rights; primarily targeted is the right to self-determination and an independent Palestinian state, as well as the inherent and inalienable right of return for Palestinian refugees to their own property and homes.

At a time when most nations who once suffered under foreign colonization are now able to freely enforce their right of self-determination, achieve independence and establish an independent state, the Palestinian people still suffer. The situation in the oPt is worsening and exacerbated due to the aggressive occupation forces and the persecution by authorities whose practices in all contexts constitute war crimes.

Israel is denying the Palestinians inherent and inalienable rights. Israel has continued its stampede into Arab territories in a severe breach of its commitment to the UN Security Council and General Assembly. Israel was accepted as a member into the United Nations and thus has responsibilities to uphold. These responsibilities are illustrated by the announcement of Israel’s commitment to apply the UN Charter without any reservations, and its subsequent liability to respect and apply all the resolutions issued by the UN concerning the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Specifically, Israeli forces should respect and apply Resolution 181 (1947), concerning the division of Palestine and 194, concerning the founding of a conciliation commission of the United Nations. (This included the determination of Jerusalem as having permanent international status, as well as the determination of the Refugees Right of Return). Having not upheld the doctrines to which it so clearly agreed, Israel illustrates a state uninterested in the preservation and construction of a lasting peaceful solution.

Failing to uphold its promises and obligations to the international community, Israel has not only violated IHL and convention, but is also practicing many forms of discrimination and aggression against the Palestinian people. Israel is egregiously unconcerned about its obligations or responsibility to international resolutions such as the General Assembly’s Resolutions; 2649 (1970), Resolution 394 (1950), Resolution 2792 (1971), Resolution 2949 (1972), Resolution 3246 (1974), and many others which call for the recognition of the Palestinian people’s rights.

In light of the continued Israeli occupation in the Palestinian Territories, and its refusal to recognize the Palestinians right of self-determination and the Refugees Right of Return to their homes, the Jerusalem Center for Women calls upon:

The Israeli Occupation Forces: to end the occupation of the Palestinian Territories and to recognize the legitimate rights of Palestinians, as well as facilitate the protection of these rights through responsible and legal Israeli policy.

The International Community: to put an end to the sixty years of continued suffering by the Palestinians under occupation, to use the necessary means to hold Israeli occupation forces accountable for their international obligations and breaches of resolutions, and to use all possible means to guarantee respect for and realization of international humanitarian law and standards.