The UN has called for an investigation into Israeli colonialism in Palestine
Rights — di Luigi Mastrodonato
The UN has mandated the International Court of Justice to assess the legal consequences of Israel's occupation of Palestine.
The UN has called for an investigation into Israeli colonialism in Palestine
The UN has mandated the International Court of Justice to assess the legal consequences of Israel's occupation of Palestine.
- Votes in favour of the UN resolution on Israel numbered 86, with 53 abstentions. Italy is among the 26 states that voted against.
- In the past, the Court has described Israel's presence in the West Bank as an "occupation". In 2004, it ruled the separation wall illegal.
- In recent days, Israel's sixth Netanyahu government — which seeks to expand settlements in Palestine further — has taken office.
The UN has asked the International Court of Justice to assess the legal consequences of Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories. The resolution comes at the very moment Israel's sixth government under Benjamin Netanyahu — considered the most extremist of all — is taking office. The prime minister has described the UN General Assembly's stance as "shameful".
The UN resolution against Israel
The United Nations General Assembly has voted on a resolution calling on the International Court of Justice in The Hague to deliver an assessment of Israeli policies in Palestinian territories. There were 86 votes in favour, with 53 abstentions. Italy is among the 26 states that voted against.
The text denounces a prolonged pattern of "occupation, settlement and annexation" on the part of Israel. It also underlines that this has altered and changed the demographic composition, status and character of the city of Jerusalem. The Court historically deals with disputes between states and has in the past intervened on several occasions against Israel and its policies. The last time it addressed the Palestinian question was in 2004, when it was called upon to rule on the wall built by Israel in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. On that occasion, the judges declared the fortification illegal.
Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador to the UN General Assembly, highlighted the importance of this vote having come precisely at the same time as the new executive taking office in Israel, "which aims to accelerate its colonialist and racist policies against the Palestinian people".
Settlements in Palestine
"The Jewish people are not occupying their land and are not occupying their eternal capital Jerusalem. No UN resolution can distort this historical truth," said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who described the General Assembly's stance as shameful. And yet Israeli colonialism in Palestinian territories is an objective fact.
Since the Six-Day War of 1967, Israel has continued to nibble away at new tracts of West Bank land and to isolate the Palestinian people. There are around 280 settlements, some official and others autonomous and not even recognised by Tel Aviv, housing almost half a million people, roughly 15 per cent of the area's population. This colonisation has entailed and continues to entail the expropriation of homes and land at the expense of the indigenous Palestinian inhabitants, who are also severely restricted in their freedom of movement.