Today’s ruling at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is a landmark ruling that vindicates what Friends of Al-Aqsa and our comrades in the Palestine solidarity campaign have been arguing for decades, namely: Israel is an occupying power that has used unlawful means to obstruct the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination.
The ICJ ruling came to many important conclusions, which will have implications for the Palestinian people, the Israeli Occupation and the latter’s international allies, including the UK. These are summarised below:
- The Court found that the restrictions imposed by Israel on the Palestinians constitutes a form of “systemic discrimination based on race, religion or ethnic origin” – a violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and several other international agreements. This underlies the reality on the ground that Israel has imposed a system of apartheid in Occupied Palestine through which Palestinians are treated as second-class citizens in their own homeland.
- The ruling also confirmed that Israel remains an occupying power, regardless of the longevity, in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Its policies since 1967 were also ruled to amount to de facto annexation of the West Bank and Jerusalem – prohibited by the principle that territories cannot be acquired by force.
This has significant implications in the context of the ongoing genocide in Gaza, where Israel claims to be acting in self-defence. The ICJ ruling confirms the opinion of many legal experts who contest Israel’s right to use this as a justification for its violence as an occupying power.
- On the issue of Israeli settlements, the Court was very clear: these violate international law, particularly Article 49 of the 4th Geneva Convention. It found that Israel incentivises the transfer of settlers and companies onto Palestinian land from which the native population are expelled. In addition, the theft and exploitation of Palestine’s natural resources for the benefit of settlers was also ruled to be illegal.
This once again confirms that Israeli politicians, organisations and domestic and international corporations that support and operate in these settlements are in violation of international law. This strengthens the call of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which targets corporations, such as Coca-Cola, that operate from within settlements.
- All of these Israeli crimes, the Court ruled, amount to a denial of the Palestinian’s right to self-determination. Policies of annexation; fragmentation of land; deprivation of natural resources; and impairment of economic, social and cultural development were all cited as specific means through which Israel undermines the territorial integrity of the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT).
On a very basic level, this is an important recognition of the very existence of the Palestinian people – an assertion that an increasingly fascistic, right-wing Israeli government and populace regularly deny. The Court’s ruling that Israel must end its presence in the OPT as rapidly as possible, cease all settlement activities and evacuate all settlers singles these factors out as barriers to peace in the entirety of Historic Palestine.
- Finally, the ICJ obligated all states to not recognise Israel’s unlawful annexation of Palestinian land, including East Jerusalem, which the Zionist regime claims as part of its capital and all states are required to ensure Israel complies with the Court’s rulings. This puts pressure on its allies, including the UK, who have failed to put any meaningful pressure on Israel to end its illegal occupation and settlement expansion. It confirms that, despite Israel and its allies’ claims, Israel has never truthfully believed in a two-state solution or desired to live side-by-side with the Palestinians. Its policies, as confirmed by the ICJ, amount to de facto annexation and it is vital that any future resolutions to the so-called “conflict” recognise this material reality.
In response to the ruling, Shamiul Joarder, Head of Public Affairs at Friends of Al-Aqsa, said, “The International Court of Justice’s ruling today is a historic moment in the global movement against Israeli apartheid and occupation. The ruling gives further weight to the arguments that we, and many others, have been making in regard to the situation in Occupied Palestine. After today, there can be no doubt that Israel is an occupying power that uses discriminatory apartheid policies to assert its control over the entirety of Historic Palestine and ethnically cleanse the native Palestinian population. The British government must now take concrete steps to abide by this ruling and use all means at its disposal to put meaningful pressure on Israel to end its occupation. The ruling is unequivocal in its condemnation of Israel and, if the new Labour government wants to be seen to follow an ethical foreign policy directed by a respect for international law, it must immediately put diplomatic, economic and military sanctions on Israel and end the UK’s complicity in its abuses. This ruling, as well as the ongoing genocide in Gaza, illustrate that Israel is a rogue state that does not respect international law or human rights. The international community, particularly its allies, must now isolate Israel until this changes. We at Friends of Al-Aqsa will continue to pressure the British government to fulfil its moral and legal obligation and will work tirelessly until there’s and end to the Occupation and Palestinians’ achieve their right to self-determination.”
