Source: https://richardfalk.wordpress.com/2013/10/25/sr-un-report-on-occupied-palestine-18-september-2013/
Timestamp: 2019-04-19 20:34:27+00:00

Document:
￼￼The present report develops arguments presented in the previous report of the Special Rapporteur to the sixty-seventh session of the General Assembly, which focused on businesses profiting from Israeli settlements and described the involvement of 13 businesses in the activities of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory with reference to the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. The present report delineates a model for legal analysis by focusing on two illustrative companies chosen for the specific ways in which their activities potentially implicate them in international crimes. The report also takes note of other issues, including the urgent matter of water and sanitation rights.
1. As in all earlier reports during his period as Special Rapporteur, the Special Rapporteur has been denied the benefits of cooperation with the Government of Israel, including permission to enter the territory of the State of Palestine. The Special Rapporteur did benefit from a mission to Gaza in December 2012, facilitated by the then-Government of Egypt via entry at the Rafah crossing. The visit was extremely valuable in providing direct access to those living under occupation. There is no substitute for this kind of direct experience on the ground in assessing allegations of violations of human rights by Israel as the Occupying Power. As the present report to the General Assembly is the final one of his tenure, the Special Rapporteur would like to stress the importance of not allowing this pattern of non-cooperation to become a precedent that will hamper the efforts of future Special Rapporteurs to be as effective as possible in investigating contentions relating to the human rights situation that prevails. It has been disappointing that more has not been done by the United Nations to induce compliance by Member States with their obligation under international law to cooperate with the Organization.
2. This mandate was established in 1993 when it was still appropriate to refer to the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza as “occupied territories”. To continue such usage at this time seems misleading. On 29 November 2012 the Palestinian presence within the United Nations system was upgraded by General Assembly resolution 67/19, conferring the status of non-member observer State. It thus seems more appropriate to refer to the territories administered by Israel as “Palestine” — but at the same time confirm the continuing responsibilities of Israel under international humanitarian law, in particular the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (Fourth Geneva Convention), as the Occupying Power. Beyond the matter of status are issues of substance. The cumulative process of unlawful settlement building and expansion has reached a point where a partially irreversible process of creeping annexation has taken place, which needs to be recognized as such, that undermines the core assumption of “belligerent occupation” as a temporary reality. This alteration of the occupied territories over time has been perversely acknowledged, even provisionally validated, by the widely held assumption that Israeli “settlement blocs” will not be dismantled even in the event that a peace agreement is reached between the Palestinian Authority and Israel.
3. It is more crucial than ever to insist upon the responsibilities of Israel as the Occupying Power under international law. The Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocols I and II, as well as a large number of obligatory international human rights agreements, are indispensable in identifying and evaluating various allegations of practices relating to the administration by Israel of daily life in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza. This legal framework is important in evaluating such policies and practices as are associated with the construction of the wall on Palestinian land, the wrongful appropriation of Palestinian water resources, the confiscation of land, arrest and detention procedures, the violations of children’s rights, settler violence with the complicity of Israeli security forces, house demolitions and collective punishment via blockades, curfews and restricted movements. While all those policies and practices deserve international attention, the Special Rapporteur focuses some attention in the present report on the wrongful appropriation of water resources, which has been a somewhat neglected aspect of the Israeli occupation.
4. The resumption of direct negotiations designed to resolve the conflict between Israel and Palestine calls particular attention at this time to an emphasis on protecting the rights of the Palestinian people during the course of a diplomatic process that, in the past 20 years, has excluded the relevance of international law. This is true, in particular, of the inalienable Palestinian right of self-determination that is not even mentioned in the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements of 1993. This mandate will have failed if the solution reached through diplomatic channels does not uphold the collective right of self-determination and the individual rights of those who have lived without rights under Israel military administration since 1967. There are also additional concerns associated with the population of Gaza, whose de facto governing authority since 2007 is not participating in the revived negotiations, raising questions as to whether the rights and interests of Palestinians in Gaza are being adequately represented.
5. The situation of the Gaza Strip is particularly troublesome, as its 1.7 million people have been compelled to live under a blockade since 2007. Gaza seems to be threatened with even greater hardships for its population as a result of recent developments in Egypt. While Israel is the Occupying Power and thus maintains legal obligations to Palestinians in Gaza, the population — for the time being — needs consistent access to and from Egypt by way of the Rafah crossing and also, in order to ensure its survival, needs access to the tunnel network that has been supplying Gaza with basic necessities. It should be recalled that a United Nations report issued a year ago, before the recent complicating developments, concluded that the habitability of the Gaza Strip was in doubt after 2020.1 During the mission of the Special Rapporteur, several experts on the threatened infrastructure of Gaza observed that even such a dire prediction was too optimistic, and that 2016 was a more realistic date. What is at stake in such a situation of extreme deprivation is a comprehensive assault on the social and economic rights of the people of Gaza, as embedded in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, to which Israel is a party. The maintenance of the blockade is a continuing violation of article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which unconditionally prohibits collective punishment.
6. The emphasis in the present report, as well as in the report submitted to the sixty-seventh session of the General Assembly, in 2012 (A/67/379), on issues of corporate responsibility and potential accountability in relation to Israeli settlements follows the recommendation of the fact-finding inquiry into settlements under the auspices of the Human Rights Council.2 It is also a reaction to the refusal of Israel to respect the obligation set forth in article 49 (6) of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits an Occupying Power from transferring citizens from its own territory to the occupied territory. This provision has been widely interpreted as extending explicitly to Israeli settlements that have been continuously established and expanded since 1967 in defiance of this consensus as to the bearing of international law. When compliance with international law cannot be achieved by either self-regulation or persuasion, then it is appropriate to rely on non-violent, coercive means to achieve compliance and thereby contribute to the protection of the rights of those being victimized, that is, Palestinians.
1 United Nations country team, “Gaza in 2020: a liveable place?” (Jerusalem, Office of the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, August 2012).
7. Ever since the adoption of Security Council resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973), there has been a widely shared agreement in the international community that the Israel/Palestine conflict can only be solved by the creation of a viable and independent Palestinian State that corresponds to the 1967 de facto borders, altered to a small degree by mutual agreement. There is no doubt that the territorial scope of self-determination for the Palestinian people according to this “two-State” scenario has been continually diminished owing to unlawful settlement activity. It has long been the responsibility of the international community, and especially the United Nations, to take steps to safeguard Palestinian territorial rights. The extent of the Israeli settlement archipelago is putting the very idea of creating a Palestinian sovereign State that is independent and viable in increasing jeopardy.
9. It is almost universally accepted that the establishment and expansion of settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem violate international humanitarian law and international human rights law. In addition, the ongoing expansion of settlements has proven to be a key obstacle to peace talks and a negotiated settlement between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
10. To date, Israel has refused to comply with international law in relation to its settlement project, and United Nations efforts to induce compliance by censuring such activities have had no discernible effect. In the meantime, the settlements by their nature and expansion act as a quasi-permanent encroachment on fundamental Palestinian rights. It is against this background that the international legal responsibilities and potential implications for non-Israeli companies that profit from the settlement enterprise is approached.
3 “Israel must stop harassment, intimidation and abusive treatment of rights defender Issa Amro”, 13 August 2013. Available from ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID= 13626&LangID=E.
Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights4 and, for the sake of concreteness and illustration, described the involvement of 13 businesses in the activities of Israel in Palestine. The present report develops arguments presented in the previous report and sets forth a possible model for legal analysis by focusing on selected companies chosen for the specific ways in which their activities potentially implicate them in international law violations that appear to be in some instances international crimes. The report is presented with the hope that its legal analysis will encourage companies that currently profit from the settlements to change their policies. The Special Rapporteur has consistently conveyed readiness to work with officials of companies to ensure their compliance with principles of corporate responsibility. The primary wish of the Special Rapporteur is to induce voluntary action, and it is only in the event of the failure of this approach that recourse to more coercive initiatives such as boycotts, divestments and sanctions is recommended.
12. The present report is based on information requested and received from civil society actors, United Nations agencies, companies and corporations, non-State entities and other stakeholders. The Special Rapporteur offers a series of recommendations to encourage businesses profiting from the settlements of Israel to take prompt action to bring their activities into line with relevant international law and related rules and standards. The Special Rapporteur notes that, since finalizing the present report, he has brought its content to the attention of the businesses mentioned. The Special Rapporteur will request clarification and further information regarding the relevant contentions in the present report with the goal of achieving prompt and effective responses to his recommendations.
13. The present report seeks to bring the issue of corporate responsibly to the attention of that portion of the business community that has or might in the future have commercial relationships with the settlements. It has been firmly established that international law recognizes the legal personality of corporations.5 The analysis of corporate accountability will focus on relevant normative frameworks, including international humanitarian law, international human rights law and international criminal law. The establishment of settlements violates the duties of an Occupying Power according to international humanitarian law and infringes on the basic human rights of Palestinians. International criminal law creates individual criminal responsibility for the principal perpetrator as well as those who are accomplices in the commission of international crimes. The Special Rapporteur hopes that consideration of international criminal law can advance the debate on businesses and human rights, in particular because of the tangible judicial mechanisms that exist, for example the International Criminal Court and universal jurisdiction exercised by domestic courts, and in this way help guide business leaders in their decision-making. By explicating a model of legal analysis, the Special Rapporteur hopes that it will be used by and useful to other companies faced with these issues.
Judgement of 5 February 1970, I.C.J. Reports, 1970, p. 246, and Ahmadou Sadio Diallo (Republic of Guinea v. Democratic Republic of the Congo), Preliminary Objections, I.C.J. Reports, 2007, para. 40.
15. The Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits an Occupying Power from transferring citizens from its own territory to the occupied territory. The prohibition has been widely accepted to include the voluntary settlement of citizens of the Occupying Power in occupied territory.7 The Hague Regulations prohibit an Occupying Power from undertaking permanent changes in the occupied area unless necessitated by military needs, or unless undertaken for the benefit of the local population. The prolonged nature of the 46-year occupation by Israel appears to be inconsistent with the accepted legal understanding that an occupation is temporary in nature. The Special Rapporteur has previously emphasized the limits of international humanitarian law in a context of prolonged occupation, especially for failing to capture the extent to which the permanent interests and well-being of the civilian population are infringed.8 The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Expert Meeting on occupation and other forms of administration of foreign territory discussed the absence in both the Hague Regulations and the Fourth Geneva Convention of limits on the duration of effective control over foreign territory and noted that many have argued that “prolonged occupation necessitates specific regulations for guiding responses to practical problems arising from long-term occupation”.9 The Special Rapporteur is of the view that such regulations are required, including steps to establish regimes of law and rights when an occupation lasts for more than five years.
16. Notwithstanding shortcomings in existing law to address prolonged occupation, the temporal focus and underlying conservationist aim of the law on occupation clearly establishes that the applicable legal framework renders the establishment and expansion of Israeli settlements as unconditionally illegal. The permanent changes deliberately made in the West Bank and East Jerusalem contradict the basic aim of international humanitarian law to preserve the rights of an occupied people.
6 See Commission on Human Rights resolutions 6 (XXIV), 6 (XXV) and 2001/7; Human Rights Council resolutions 7/18, 10/18 and 19/17; Security Council resolutions 271 (1969), 446 (1979), 641 (1989), 681 (1990) and 799 (1992); and General Assembly resolutions 2546 (XXIV), ES-10/2, 36/147 C, 54/78, 58/97, ES-10/18 and 66/225; advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on the Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory of 9 July 2004 (see A/ES-10/273 and Corr.1), paras. 109-113.
7 See Security Council resolution 446 (1979) and the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice of 9 July 2004, para. 120.
(Geneva, 2012). Available from icrc.org/eng/assets/files/publications/icrc-002-4094.pdf.
Accountability for international humanitarian law violations is illuminated by reference to international criminal law, a body of law that includes serious violations of international humanitarian law.
18. International human rights law imposes obligations on States to protect the rights of individuals and groups. The extraterritorial application of human rights has been endorsed by various forums.11 The establishment of Israeli settlements in occupied Palestine results in manifold violations of international human rights law. Among other violations, the settlements infringe upon the right of property, the right to equality, the right to a suitable standard of living and the right to freedom of movement.12 The settlements directly impede the responsibility of Israel to protect the human rights of the civilian Palestinian population.
19. The obligations imposed on States include a duty to protect against human rights abuses by third parties. States must take appropriate steps to prevent, investigate, punish and redress abuse by private actors. Moreover, standards have developed that extend the applicability of human rights law to non-State entities, including corporations.13 Consequently, the obligation of States and companies, and those who act on behalf of such entities, to respect international criminal law norms constitutes a core corporate social responsibility within the evolving legal framework for respecting human rights.
10 ICRC, “Business and international humanitarian law” (2006). Available from icrc.org/eng/assets/files/other/icrc_002_0882.pdf.
11 See, for example, the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice of 9 July 2004, paras. 109-113; The Nature of the General Legal Obligation Imposed on States Parties to the Covenant, general comment No. 31 (CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.13), paras. 15, 18; and the Public Commission to Examine the Maritime Incident of 31 May 2010 (the Turkel Commission), “Israel’s mechanisms for examining and investigating complaints and claims of violations of the laws of armed conflict according to international law” (February 2013), p. 64. Available from turkel-committee.gov.il/files/newDoc3/The%20Turkel%20Report%20for%20website.pdf.
12 See General Assembly resolution 2200 A (XXI), annex.
Covenant on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights; and General Assembly resolution 60/147.
20. Self-regulating mechanisms have been incorporated by many businesses to ensure compliance with ethical standards and international law.14 The United Nations is acting to bring human rights directly to bear on corporations through initiatives such as the Global Compact, which was launched by the Secretary-General in 2000. The Global Compact Initiative encourages businesses globally to promote voluntarily and show respect for 10 principles relating to human rights, labour standards, the environment and anti-corruption measures. Furthermore, in 2011 the Human Rights Council unanimously endorsed the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, which provide guidance on the responsibilities of business enterprises, as well as the necessary measures to be taken by States arising from their existing human rights obligations.
21. The Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights are pertinent as a framework for analysis because they “outline steps for States to foster business respect for human rights; provide a blueprint for companies to manage the risk of having an adverse impact on human rights; and offer a set of benchmarks for stakeholders to assess business respect for human rights”.15 A key concept in the Guiding Principles is due diligence, which outlines an ongoing process that a reasonable business needs to undertake to meet its responsibility to respect human rights. The Guiding Principles also outline the related obligations of States, which include respecting human rights (refrain from interfering with or curtailing the enjoyment of human rights), protecting human rights (protect individuals or groups against human rights abuses, including by business enterprises) and fulfilling human rights (positive action to facilitate the enjoyment of basic human rights).16 The Guiding Principles have been and will continue to be an authoritative point of reference for Governments and businesses concerned with human rights. In this connection, the Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises has been established by the Human Rights Council.17 It has a central role in developing operational advice regarding the Guiding Principles, promoting and providing support for efforts to implement the Guiding Principles and making recommendations, conducting country visits and working in close cooperation with relevant United Nations bodies.
14 See, for example, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, 2011 edition (Washington, D.C., 2011). Available from oecd.org/daf/inv/mne/oecdguidelinesformultinationalenterprises.htm.
15 See Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, “The corporate responsibility to respect human rights: an interpretive guide” (2012). Available from ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/HR.PUB.12.2_En.pdf.
16 A/HRC/17/31, annex, paras. 1-10.
24. Under article 25 (1) of the Rome Statute, the International Criminal Court has jurisdiction over natural persons. It does not have jurisdiction over legal entities. The Court could, however, adjudicate corporate involvement in international crimes by focusing on the individuals acting on behalf of a corporation. When a State becomes a party to the Rome Statute, it comes within the jurisdiction of the Statute with respect to the crimes set out in the Statute. The Court may exercise its jurisdiction in situations where the alleged perpetrator is a national of a State party or where the crime was committed in the territory of a State party. Also, a State not party to the Statute may decide to accept the jurisdiction of the Court, as set out in article 12 (3) of the Rome Statute. Palestine did so in January 2009, but the Prosecutor at the time stated that the Court only had jurisdiction over States and pointed to determinations of the General Assembly as a guide for determination of entities that qualify as States. It is unclear whether the subsequent granting of non-member observer State status to Palestine by the Assembly will change the status of Palestine before the Court.22 Israel is not a party to the Rome Statute.
18 See, for example, United States of America v. Carl Krauch et al. (the I. G. Farben case), Judgement, 29, 30 July 1948, Trials of War Criminals before the Nuernberg Military Tribunals, United States Government Printing Office, 1952, vol. VIII.
19 See Antje K. D. Heyer, “Corporate complicity under international criminal law: a case for applying the Rome Statute to business behaviour”, Human Rights and International Legal Discourse, vol. 6 (2012).
20 International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, Prosecutor v. Furundzija, case No. IT-95-17/1-T, Trial Chamber II, 10 December 1998, para. 249.
21 International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, Prosecutor v. Mom􏰀ilo Periši􏰁, case No. IT-04-81-A, Appeals Chamber, 28 February 2013.
22 General Assembly resolution 67/19.
assists in the commission or attempted commission of crimes articulated in the statute is individually responsible for such crimes. It consists of a two-pronged test: (1) substantial contribution to the crime; and (2) knowledge and purpose in facilitating or assisting a crime.
26. Therefore, the ability to attribute international criminal responsibility to corporations is not wide in scope. According to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Court, it must be attributed to an individual as opposed to a company, and that individual must have knowledge that their acts have causally contributed to the commission of an international crime. “Knowing assistance” (i.e., an awareness that one’s actions are assisting in the commission of a relevant crime) is required.
27. The Rome Statute prohibits “the transfer, directly or indirectly, by the Occupying Power of parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies”.23 That information has long been available in the public domain, for example in official United Nations reports and resolutions, and would provide a compelling argument that corporations engaged in business activities with the settlements should by now be fully aware that Israeli settlements violate international law. The argument that requires development is the extent to which the corporation’s activities are causally connected to the international crimes being perpetrated. The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia has introduced “specific direction”, indicating its belief that the activities in question should be specifically directed to assisting the commission of any crime. If one chooses to follow the Tribunal’s jurisprudence on complicity in relation to Israeli settlements, then questions relevant to some of the corporations discussed in the present and the previous report of the Special Rapporteur to the General Assembly would include the following: Does the provision of equipment or raw materials specifically directed towards the building of settlements and/or related infrastructure constitute a sufficient causal connection to the transfer of the Israeli civilian population to occupied Palestine? Does the provision of loans or similar financial transactions that are specifically directed towards the construction, renovation or purchase of settlements constitute such a connection? Does advertising, promoting the sale of and/or identifying buyers for a settlement constitute such a connection? Whether the Tribunal’s approach to complicity in the Periši􏰁 case will prove to be authoritative in other future cases is at this point an unknown.
28. What is clear is that prosecuting corporations for complicity at an international level offers a potential avenue for redress. Of course, jurisdictional requirements must be met. For example, the State from which the corporation and its employees are acting must be a party to the Rome Statute for the court to hear the case. The concept of complicity is not limited to international criminal law, however; other judicial mechanisms, such as national courts, could possibly prosecute corporations or their employees for involvement in international crimes.
23 Article 8 (2) (b) (viii) of the Rome Statute prohibits a broader range of actions than article 49 (6) of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
24 International Commission of Jurists, Corporate Complicity and Legal Accountability, vol. 3 (Geneva, 2008), p. 4.
25 For recent litigation, see United States Supreme Court, Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum, 569 U.S. ____ (2013) for limitations of the Alien Tort Statute; the Dutch National Public Prosecutor’s Office dismissal of the case against Riwal; and the Court of Appeal of Versailles decision that ruled against civil liability for private French companies in the construction of a Jerusalem light rail tramway system, available from http://www.volokh.com/wp-content/uploads/ 2013/04/French-Ct-decision.pdf.
26 Corporations and other private legal persons can be prosecuted for genocide and crimes against humanity under article 213-3 of the French Penal Code and under the Canadian Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act.
27 Brief of Amicus Curiae Navi Pillay, p. 3, in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum.
32. Much of the legal analysis has culminated in a discussion of international criminal law and its concept of corporate complicity.30 The importance of complicity, however, transcends international criminal justice. It has been extended to respect for corporate social responsibility and human rights standards. The Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights refer to international criminal law in its articulation of corporate complicity for human rights violations. Such initiatives contribute to translating international criminal responsibility standards into guidelines for companies on how to conduct their business in order to avoid responsibility for violations and abuses, for example through due diligence.
33. As noted in the previous report of the Special Rapporteur on this issue, there is a wide range of businesses operating in the settlements. The Special Rapporteur surveyed 13 businesses, including several that were Israeli and others that were international. Some businesses were connected with the occupation generally and others with the settlements in particular. In the present report the Special Rapporteur focuses on two discrete areas that relate to settlements. The first area is banking institutions involved in financial transactions, such as loans to construct or purchase Israeli settlements. The company that the Special Rapporteur discusses is the Dexia Group, a European banking group. This builds upon the analysis by the Special Rapporteur of the Dexia Group in the previous report. The second area that the Special Rapporteur draws attention to is real estate companies that advertise and sell properties in settlements. The activities of Re/Max International, a company based in the United States of America, are the focus of analysis in the present report. The case studies aim to determine whether the Dexia Group and Re/Max International, through providing loans and mortgages and through advertising and selling properties in settlements, provide knowing assistance that amounts to aiding in the commission of international crimes associated with transferring the citizens of the Occupying Power to the occupied territory. The Special Rapporteur reiterates that the businesses highlighted are illustrative examples. There are other companies that profit from Israeli settlement activities, both in the economic service areas in which the Dexia Group and Re/Max International are working and in other areas involving goods and services.
29 International Commission of Jurists, Corporate Complicity and Legal Accountability, vol. 1 (Geneva, 2008), p. 18.
30 Word constraints limited the present analysis on corporate responsibility to business activities connected to the settlements; however, the analysis could potentially be extended to all aspects of the occupation.
Limited (Dexia Israel), of which the Dexia Group is the majority shareholder, such as providing loans to Israelis living in settlements on the West Bank.
31 Dexia Group press release, 3 July 2013. Available from dexia.com/EN/journalist/press_releases/ Documents/20130703_CP_Dexia_emission_dette_garantie_EN.pdf.
32 Dexia Group, “Annual report 2012” (Brussels, 2012), p. 76. Available from dexia.com/EN/ shareholder_investor/individual_shareholders/publications/Documents/RA_2012_EN.pdf.
33 Dexia Group press release, 8 May 2013. Available from dexia.com/EN/journalist/ press_releases/Documents/20130508_CP_resultats_1T_EN.pdf; Dexia Group press release, 7 August 2013. Available from http://hugin.info/152020/R/1721538/574033.pdf.
39. Dexia Israel’s transactions with Israeli settlements render the Dexia Group a business corporation involved in the occupation of Palestine, and it can therefore be held responsible for violating international humanitarian law. Settlements are illegal because of the fact that they are built on occupied land. They are closely linked to the ongoing conflict and the belligerent occupation. Dexia Israel’s activities facilitate the growth of settlements, which demonstrates that the majority shareholder Dexia Group is complicit in violating international humanitarian law because, by transferring members of the Israeli population into occupied Palestine, Israel is violating article 49 (6) of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which, owing to its scale and intentionality, is a prima facie war crime.
40. Moreover, as States parties to the Geneva Conventions, Belgium and France are obligated to respect and ensure respect for the Conventions. At present, they are majority shareholders in a company that provides loans and mortgages to settlements in occupied Palestine and, in this connection, are violating their obligation to ensure respect for the Conventions.
37 Who Profits research paper submitted to the Special Rapporteur, July 2013.
42. Self-regulating mechanisms within corporations are relevant to assessing responsibility for potential human rights violations.43 It is regrettable that the Dexia Group has withdrawn from the Global Compact. The observation of the Special Rapporteur in his previous report that the Dexia Group was not up to date on its reporting requirements was intended to encourage compliance, but indications suggest that the Dexia Group has unfortunately chosen to follow an opposite course of action.
40 A/HRC/17/31, annex, para. 17.
41 A/HRC/17/31, annex, para. 4.
to respect human rights: an interpretive guide”, p. 22; see also A/HRC/17/31, annex, para. 14.
43 A/HRC/17/31, annex, paras. 15 and 16.
knowledge of the loans its subsidiary grants, and therefore individual criminal responsibility can be attributed to employees in the Dexia Group who have knowledge of the activities of their subsidiary in Israel.
44 See European Union, “Statement by the Spokesperson of the High Representative Catherine Ashton on renewed plans for Israeli settlements in and around East Jerusalem”, 31 May 2013. Available from consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_Data/docs/pressdata/EN/foraff/137350.pdf.
45 See, for example, South African Apartheid Litigation, 617 F. Supp. 2d 228, 260-262 (S.D.N.Y. 2009) and Almog v. Arab Bank, 471 F. Supp. 2d at 257 (E.D.N.Y. 2007).
46 See Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky and Veerle Openhaffen, “The past and present of corporate complicity: financing the Argentinean dictatorship”, Harvard Human Rights Journal, vol. 23 (2010).
24 September 2003), which was before the Cour de Cassation at the time, legislators in Belgium made changes to the Amendment to the Law of June 16, 1993, Concerning the Punishment of Grave Breaches of Humanitarian Law (5 August 2003), requiring a direct Belgian link for a case to be heard before the courts.
47. Investment committees have recommended that large European banks refuse to extend financial assistance to Israeli companies that manufacture, build or sell products in Palestine and to banks that grant mortgages to builders or buyers of housing therein. The Dexia Group would fall within the latter category. According to Haaretz, the recommendations have been put on hold following pressure from Israel exerted in the context of a diplomatic initiative led by the United States.49 Nonetheless, the recommendations, the response by the Government of Israel and related reporting in the Israeli press indicate that financial institutions are increasingly concerned about their legal and moral responsibilities associated with any dealings involving the settlements.
48 Jan Willem van Gelder, Barbara Kuepper and Ewoud Nijhof, “Dutch economic links with the occupation”, research paper prepared for Cordaid (Amsterdam, Profundo, 2013), p. 17. Available from cordaid.org/media/publications/Report_Dutch_economic_links_with_the_occupation_ 1.pdf; see also Norwegian People’s Aid, “Dangerous liaisons: Norwegian ties to the Israeli occupation” (2012). Available from npaid.org/Media/20_Files/Om-oss/Annual-reports/ Dangerous-liaisons.
49 “Danger ahead: an Israel boycott”, editorial, Haaretz, 14 July 2013.
marketing, as well as by profiting from such sales, Re/Max International has constant interaction and influence over its franchises. Similar to the Dexia Group case study, the methodology used in the legal analysis set out below will be applied in order to assess the legal plausibility of such a case.
50. Promoting the sale of (for example by advertising) or selling property on or as part of a settlement contributes to the commission of the international crime of transferring citizens of the Occupying Power onto occupied territory. In fact, advertising and selling such properties to citizens of the Occupying Power constitute instances par excellence of participating in such transfers.
51. The responsibility to respect human rights requires businesses to avoid contributing to adverse human rights impacts and to mitigate such impacts when linked to their operations.55 Re/Max International, through selling properties on Palestinian land, is directly contributing to adverse human rights impacts, such as the restrictions on freedom of movement that obstruct Palestinians’ access to land, which is often used for agricultural purposes, and arbitrary and unlawful interference with Palestinians’ privacy, family and home.56 States parties to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights are obliged to regulate the conduct of private groups and ensure that such conduct will not result in violating human rights and, where it does, ensure that effective remedies are available.
52. Re/Max International’s code of ethics states that “its affiliates shall undertake to eliminate any practice by real estate professionals in their community which could be damaging to the public”.57 The statement reveals two things. First, if the Palestinian population is considered to be part of the public in Israel (given that Israel effectively controls the population) then the establishment of settlements is clearly damaging to that sector of the public. Second, the code of ethics extends to the “affiliates” of Re/Max International, which form part of its “community”, therefore reconfirming the connection between the global company and its local franchises.
55 A/HRC/17/31, annex, para. 13.
complaint by the Norwegian Refugee Council to the Human Rights Committee, 28 February 2013. 57 See, for example, remax-fun.at/?id=qualitaeten&lang=en.
individual salespersons to the promotion and sale of homes in Israeli settlements greatly increases prospects for holding individuals accountable for such crimes.
55. Real estate agents who promote and/or sell properties in settlements in Palestine to citizens of the Occupying Power may be held liable for complicity in the crime of promoting settlement activity in occupied territory. While the present case study examined Re/Max International, the same analysis would apply to other real estate agencies. The unavailability of civil relief in United States court at the present time does not establish that such a remedy might not be available in other national legal systems.
56. The present report proposed a model for legal analysis by focusing on two companies chosen for the particular ways in which their activities potentially implicate them in international crimes. The legal model can be applied to other situations and other companies. The Special Rapporteur stresses again that the companies discussed herein are illustrative examples; however, some conclusions can be drawn about the case studies.
58 The Alien Tort Statute is a legal instrument that enables plaintiffs to sue persons, including foreigners, who acted outside United States territory for breaches of international law before United States district courts.
59 A/HRC/17/31, annex, paras. 25 and 26.
law that the settlements constitute? Voluntarily playing a causal role in the commission of a crime can in certain instances be enough to make them accomplices to that crime.
58. During the mission of the Special Rapporteur to the Gaza Strip in December 2012, a number of interlocutors raised serious concerns about the lack of clean water and adequate sanitation facilities in the Gaza Strip. Some of those issues were briefly touched upon in the previous report of the Special Rapporteur to the Human Rights Council.8 In the context of the near exclusive control by Israel over all underground and surface water resources in Palestine, the Special Rapporteur reiterates his concerns regarding the occupation-induced water and sanitation crisis.
60. The Israeli blockade of Gaza has exacerbated water scarcity and lack of adequate sanitation facilities. Delays and restrictions on the entry of materials through the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing have stalled a number of water and sanitation infrastructure projects. Furthermore, Israel not only extracts a disproportionate share of the water from the coastal aquifer for its own benefit but also blocks the Gazan population from accessing water from the Wadi Gaza, a natural stream that originates in the Hebron Mountains and flows to the Mediterranean Sea.
61. Water scarcity in Gaza has been worsened by the repeated destruction of water and sanitation infrastructure in the course of Israeli military operations.60 Israel has destroyed at least 306 wells in the Access Restricted Areas of Gaza since 2005.61 In this context, the Special Rapporteur strongly condemns the targeting of water and sanitation facilities during Israeli military operations, which cannot be justified as a military necessity, and cannot be explained as a consequence of accidents.
Access Restricted Areas of the Gaza Strip” (December 2012). Available from ewash.org/files/ library/factsheet%20jan%2021.pdf.
62 Palestinian Water Authority, “Palestinian water sector: status summary report”, report prepared for the meeting of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (September 2012). Available from http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Water%2520summary%2520for%2520AH LC%2520report%2520FINAL.pdf.
63 Elizabeth Koek, Water for One People Only: Discriminatory Access and “Water-Apartheid” in the OPT (Ramallah, Al-Haq, 2013).
64 Emergency Water and Sanitation-Hygiene Group, “Fact sheet 14: Water for agriculture in the West Bank” (March 2013). Available from ewash.org/files/library/WB%20factsheet%20 fianl%20march%209.pdf.
65 See A/HRC/22/63 and Oxfam, On the Brink: Israeli Settlements and Their Impact on Palestinians in the Jordan Valley (Oxford, 2012).
66. Meanwhile, Israeli authorities profit from the occupation-induced crisis by treating up to 21 per cent of Palestinian sewage in facilities established inside Israel and paid for by Palestinian tax revenues withheld by Israel. The treated wastewater is then reused for the exclusive benefit of the Israeli agricultural sector.62 The difficulties experienced by Palestinian communities in securing sewage treatment facilities contrasts with the wastewater treatment plants servicing the settlements, which makes a mockery of the relevance of international humanitarian law in the protection of an occupied people.
67. Considering the unlawful policies and practices of Israel that induce a water and sanitation crisis in occupied Palestine, the Special Rapporteur stresses that the Palestinian Authority has neither been able to uphold Palestinian water rights nor embrace the right to development of water and sanitation facilities.66 Support from the international donor community for ad hoc solutions, such as financing desalination plants and sanitation facilities to meet the immediate needs of the Palestinian population, must go hand in hand with pressure exerted on Israeli authorities to put an end to its discriminatory policies. In sum, the discriminatory pattern disclosed is aggravated by the fact that while the Palestinians are being denied their rights to resources situated within Palestine, settlements have been the beneficiaries of these Israeli policies. In effect, illegality is compounded by illegality, with the result being impending threats of de-development hanging over the Palestinian future in the Gaza Strip, and to a lesser degree in the West Bank.
68. If current diplomacy fails to produce a solution to the underlying conflict, the Special Rapporteur recommends that the General Assembly request an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice as to the legal consequences of the prolonged occupation of Palestine.
69. The Special Rapporteur recommends that the Government of Israel cease expanding and creating settlements in occupied Palestine, start dismantling existing settlements and returning its citizens to the Israeli side of the Green Line and provide appropriate reparations for the damage due to settlement and related activity since 1967.
66 The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; the Convention on the Rights of the Child; and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities entail obligations for States parties in relation to access to safe drinking water and sanitation. Israel has ratified the aforementioned Conventions except for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, to which Israel is a signatory.
￼￼responsibilities and the international legal ramifications of such business activities, in particular concerning potential liability for corporate complicity in overseas domestic courts.
71. The Special Rapporteur recommends that Belgium and France compensate Palestinians who have been directly affected by the settlements to which Dexia Israel has provided mortgages or administered grants.
72. The Special Rapporteur recommends that copies of the present report be forwarded to Robert de Metz (Chair of the Board of the Dexia Group) and David Liniger (Chair and founder of Re/Max International). It is strongly recommended that each of these two companies undertake a prompt review so as to bring it, its affiliates and its employees’ policies and practices into full compliance with the laws and standards mentioned in the present report.
73. The Special Rapporteur recommends that the Dexia Group and Re/Max International should agree to comply with and adopt clear guidelines for future corporate social responsibility based on the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
74. The Special Rapporteur recommends that civil society in Belgium and France be urged to pressure their Governments to sell their shares in the Dexia Group and encourages civil society to demand that all businesses cease their activities that relate to the settlements and henceforth insist that companies act in accordance with the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
75. The Special Rapporteur recommends that all companies with relations to the settlements comparable to those of the Dexia Group and Re/Max International review their arrangements with an eye towards respect for international law and the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
76. The Special Rapporteur recommends that Israel immediately end its discriminatory policies and practices that serve to deny Palestinians their rightful share of water resources in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. In particular, Israel must cease the demolition of water collection facilities, including wells and water tanks, on the pretext that they operate without valid permits.
Absolutely devastating. Since the US supreme court has ruled that corporations are people, why couldn’t the ICC make a similar ruling which could then hold corporations responsible for the activities of their executive employees who are the perpetrators of the crimes mentioned in this report? Just an idea.
I notice the earlier post was taken down and all the comments are lost. Alas.
Wenn does Gaza get a sufficient harbo(u)r?
To get growing commercial profits and endly have a real good (didn’t write ‘better’) economy! Israël blocks chances to have life in the occupied territories —-> Shame !
Never heard or read in Thora about starving this wrong ways to handle their slaves.
Thank you for posting the report. It’s good that you did, because I could not find it at the U.N. site.
There is a new petition -Obama, stop the settlements.” But, I’m afraid it will not get exposure and be squashed.
I did not realize how much hatred exists in the world…it seems amplified by the internet, when I see absolute prejudice and malicious spreading of fear and hate.
Then, I wonder if the universal weaknesses in man are not the same ones that have always been used and exploited to dominate others, and by more powerful groups.
Recently, I saw a headline on the Mondoweiss website, where a Palestinian farmer said America is to blame, for his farm being appropriated by the Israelis, I think.
The masses cannot seem to do enough to stop governments from carrying out disastrous policies, abusing their “authority” and the “trust” of the people.
We are in constant turmoil, one way or another. For many it is a strangled existence, inhumane and a travesty of human rights and justice.
I, sometimes, talk to local people – many do not have much awareness or interest of wider realities, or exploitation/abuse of workers’ rights. Many are struggling in their ways, and have become so embroiled in their daily needs, persevering to stay afloat or improve their lives, there is no time left over for the rest of the world or, even their communities.
It will always fall on a minority to work for change, it seems, for the benefit of the disenfranchised and oppressed. The “people” will not rise up, until they are sufficiently united, informed and outraged.
With increased digital spreading of world events, will some become more disgusted, more involved, more angry, or more disillusioned and apathetic, I don’t know.
It seems that people use any resource available for any purpose to advance an agenda,or fight for a cause.
The “fight” goes on, but war will never be a “solution”. “Passive resistance” can only work with greater participation and this means collective awareness, and education toward equality and government accountability.
This misspent and misuse of man’s labour to pay for military means of control, or for self defense, cost the world billions, while the world resources are depleted and people suffer ill health, poverty and tragic lives.
There is only the powerful, who make these decisions and the people that implement their policies, law enforcement and military, and tax payers – I don’t know the answer, except for people to keep on, keeping on, wherever, whenever and however, they can and just hope mankind can find some way to say no to the arms deals, land thefts and forced enslavement of workers in subhuman conditions, for profit.
Talks have to lead somewhere, and greed has to be denounced.
Thank you Professor Falk for all that you do to come forward and work to increase dialogue and accountability.
So Isreal is to just guess at the location of the final borders or leave it to the Palestinians to make the determination on their own. That was not the intent of all of the prior resolutions. This whole scenario is like a fence line dispute without an accurate survey having first taken place. As you well know, there has been no agreement on the exact location of the final borders. There is a “de facto” location which exists, but the prior resolutions did not say that this was to be the final border. The Palestinians seem to maintain that they want it all. That was not the intent of the UN resolutions. Isreal has offered to sit down, without any preconditions, and settle; it has indicated that it would withdraw from disputed areas (which it has a right to “occupy” until the agreement has taken place – after all, it is disputed). The Palestinian has demanded withdrawal first before any talks would take place, thus requiring Isreal to leave areas that it might end up getting once that agreement is achieved – you know very well that if Isreal complies with the demand for withdrawal, it will never get any of that area back. Meantime no such restrictions are impossed on the Palestinian. We both know that once It “occupies” areas Isreal wants it will never withdraw because in the Palestinian mind it owns it all, including Isreal (which it partially “occupies” with its’ Isrerali population). Has the Palestinian ever indicated any area it might be willing to leave? What if Isreal determined that it wanted all of Jerusalem? Should the Palestinian withdraw until settlement?
The Palestinian approach seems to be: the “de facto” borders are the final borders. This does not give Isreal the physical security to which it is entitled. Look at Gaza for an example of the type of “security” it gets via a withdrawal. Rockets.
In 2000 Isreal tried and thought it got close to a resolution. The Palestinian “ran” from a settlement because Isreal made a reasonable offer. Ask Saudi Prince Bandar; ask Pres. Clinton.
Should Isreal sit by and wait “forever” before it developes ground it might end up getting, or should it just ignore a Palestinian who will never agree to any resolution and who just complains that it is not getting its’ way by getting it all.
If I had a border dispute with my neighbor and felt that I was correct and he was wrong; if that neighbor evidenced that he would never agree to sit down and “talk” about a resolution, knowing that he would give up nothing even though we both recognized that the dispute was valid and we each had “points” to make and the actual ownershio was not all that clear; if I needed that land and was in a position to develope it but indicated that I would withdraw from some of it based on our settlement; if the “mediator” controlling the dispute would not or could not get my neighbor to the :”bargaining table” get my neighbor to agree that I was entitled to “some” of it (as the “mediator” has already said that I was); why should I wait to use the land?
The Palestinian is its’ own worst enemy. All of the ills of which it complains fall at its’ feet. All it has to do is to say “O.K., let us openly negotiate so that the entire world can see what is really going on here and let the ‘chips fall where they may'”. If Isreal must withdraw from some of the land, at least we will know from what part and why. But in this process, the most important goal is the security of Isreal. Once that is achieved, the future State of Palestain will begin to prosper – of course without any of its’ citizens being a Jew because that is what its’ future constitution is supposed to say – some way to proceed with a relationship, isn’t it?
When are you going to investigate Jordan, Gaza, the “State of Palestine”, etc., on their Apartheid status and human rights violations on the exclusion of Jews (especially when Isreal has so many citizens who are Muslem and therefor can’t be “tarred” by the same brush)?
As usual, you seem to see just one side.
Yes, oldguyincolorado, I’ve often asked myself the same question, just why do you bother?, because you’ve got all the facts wrong. No one will pay attention to you. Saudi Prince Bandar, or Bill Clinton are the last two I would ask for confirmation on this matter.
The facts are very simple. To deny them Prof. Falk must create a chain of fictions, without which his entire argument falls apart. The first fiction is that the Arab migrant workers who arrived in the Land of Israel in the 19th century were an indigenous population with a national identity rooted in the Land of Israel. The second fiction is that the “Zionists” stole their land. The third fiction is that the “Zionists” started the 1948 war. The fourth fiction is that Israel started the 1967 war. This is the base, to which are added subsidiary fictions as well as new fictions to rationalize specific events. In addition, around Prof. Falk there has gathered an entire army of worshipful admirers who add their own fictions to the saga, either in their own blogs or in comments to other people’s blogs, all based on second- or third-hand sources that share their biases. But the simplest of all facts is that if Israel wasn’t Jewish it wouldn’t be hated. If Israel was an Arab country and the Palestinians were indigenous non-Muslim Sudanese, let us say, and you had the same conflict and the same occupation and the same “ethnic cleansing,” hardly an eyebrow would be raised. That is the saddest and most revealing fact of all.
Start with this fact: On the night of June 5, 1967 Jordan commenced an unprovoked and indiscriminate artillery bombardment of Jewish Jerusalem, hitting 500 buildings and killing 15 people. This was an act of war and the result at the end of this war was the occupation of the West Bank.
Forgive me, Richard, for imposing another’s post onto your blog, but I can’t help bringing Chomsky in to refute some of Fred’s facts, and maybe also enlightening oldguyincolorado. (Of course Fred will treat Chomsky just as he does you.) That’s what trolls do.
Chomsky is not refuting anything. He is making irrelevant determinations about a conflict that can only be resolved via negotiations of the kind that are now taking place, in which each side will make its claims and hopefully a compromise will be reached. The fact that you accept everything he writes at face value only shows where your head is.
The greatest fiction of all is that a white American Jewish man, with not one shred of forensic evidence linking his person or family to the Middle East, whose last name is “Skolnik” (no way indigenous to ME), is a “native” of the land, while Palestinians who can show legal, genetic, historic, cultural, and verifiable familial links are outsiders.
anyone who buys that might consider a tropical seaside property I’m selling in the Gobi desert.
As for you endless assertions that Jews have lived there for 3500 years, that’s true, and completely irrelevant, unless you can prove you’re related to them. Jews have lived in Iran and Egypt, Iraq and Syria for just as long. You – and other Jews of the world – still don’t have a right to take what does not, and never did, belong to you. You have as much right to Palestine as you do to Iraq, Syria, or any other place where Jews have lived.
It’s greed, theft, colonialism, imperialism, and other of the most base of human projects manifest, pure and simple.
That’s really a mouthful, Susan. The “forensic” or genetic evidence is that the main ethnic element of Ashkenazim (German and Eastern European Jews), Sephardim (Spanish and Portuguese Jews), Mizrakhim (Middle Eastern Jews), Juhurim (Mountain Jews of the Caucasus), Italqim (Italian Jews), and most other modern Jewish populations of the world is Israelite. The Israelite haplotypes fall into Y-DNA haplogroups J and E.
Not that this is relevant to anything, It is as natural and legitimate for a Jewish American to settle in Israel as it would be for an Irish American (like J.P. Donleavy, for example) or an Italian American to settle in Ireland or Italy.
I don’t know how you became a champion of the Palestinians but you are conveniently forgetting that the Arabs themselves “took” Iraq, Syria, the rest of the Middle East, North Africa and most of Spain when they came out of the Arabian Desert in the 7th century. I won’t go into their greed, theft, colonialism and imperialism, which I’m sure you don’t want to hear about.
You are correct, however, that it’s ultimately irrelevant, since there were Canaanites long before Jews in Palestine, and while the pseudo-scientists stretch the limits of credulity to put Ashkenazis in the family trees originating from Palestine, it is well established that Palestinians are in fact, genetically indigenous. This is further verified through history and common sense that natives of that land converted between religions over time.
I’ll note, too, that you ignored the principle point of my comment regarding the sheer perversion of rational thought, logic, and history, that would place you, a white man from North America as a native of Palestine, and me, someone with clear and verifiable genetic, cultural, linguistic, historic, familial, and legal ties to that land, as an outsider.
I welcome Susan to the debate, and declare her the winner.
That is one splendid tirade, Susan, a little hateful in tone, but that’s all right.
The majority of genetic researchers confirm the Israelite origin of the Jews. Historically too the movement of the Jews into Southern Europe from the Land of Israel is easily traceable and well documented (Tacitus, Josephus), as is the movement of the Jews from Southern Europe into Northern and Eastern Europe with the revival or trade from the 10th century on.
There were certainly other people living in Canaan, but the Arabs were not among them, unless you create a fiction about their origins.
I certainly replied to your meaningless comment about white North American Jews and I certainly made it clear to you how the Arabs arrived in the Land of Israel.
Cursing Jews as white supremicists is simply crazy. You have a an entirely uninformed view of the Israel-Arab conflict and no understanding whatsoever of the origins of the Arab population of the Land of Israel, though I suspect that your insistence on calling them indigenous derives as much from your biases as from your ignorance.
You can curse the Jews as much as you like and I will reply in kind. Your type of rhetoric is very familiar to me.
do you think readers will not notice how you twisted my words that zionism is a modern face of white supremacy to attributing anti-Semitism to me (“cursing the Jews”)?
In fact, you said nothing of substance in your response. Instead, you resorted to name calling and personal attack: “tirade”, “hateful”, “meaningless”, “crazy”, “uninformed”, “ignorance”.
Bottom line, I’ll show you 900 years of forefathers and foremothers in a documented personal family lineage in Jerusalem starting with my parents. That’s just the documented portion. Show me evidence that you have ONE ancestor in your personal history. That’s rhetorical, of course, because we both know you can’t do that, which is why you must resort to a fantasy that someone who lived there 3500 years ago – 15 centuries before Jesus! – is somehow related to you.
The zionist claims you cling to reflect a grave distortion of logic, reason, and history. They are claims aimed to give people like you even greater privilege than you already have. They result in the destruction of an entire people and society that has never done anything to you except to not be Jewish. You covet and steal what is not yours and you don’t care that the rightful owners and heirs become subjects of the unspeakable misery you create in order to perpetuate your privilege and sense of entitlement, superiority, and exclusivity. you think every Jew has a right to dual citizenship – one in their own homeland and one in mine. That you are somehow entitled to claim the homes build by Palestinians, olive groves and orchards as your own. I am confident that discerning readers see this imperialism and supremacy for the contemptible project it is.
Just as Arabs all around the world can be traced back historically and genetically to the the Arab tribes in the Arabian Desert, Jews around the world can be traced back to Israelite tribes in the Land of Israel. There is nothing illogical or out of the ordinary about this.
I am a Jew and therefore I choose to live in a Jewish state. This is the most natural thing in the world. The connection between Jews around the world has been unbroken for 2500 years. The connection between Jews and the Land of Israel has been unbroken for at least 3500 years. No one can fool anyone and pretend that there is a connection when there isn’t one.
No one stole anything that belonged to the Arabs. Jews purchased land from absentee Arab landowners and settled it in a desolate country ruled by Ottoman Turks. When the issue of sovereignty became a bone of contention, the country was partitioned by the United Nations. The Jews accepted the terms of the partition and the Arabs did not, invading the State of Israel instead. That is the source of all their misery and nothing else. Israel will continue to defend itself against Arab terror and will gladly live in peace with the Palestinians when they are ready to, each in their own state.
thank you so much for bringing your report into the blogsphere !
You are very outstanding in this extremely difficult job you are doing for the Palestinians !
The whole globe is meanwhile aware what is going on and how Palestinians are treated (not even children are spared!!) by Israels government. How shameful it has/should be regarded especially in the light of the holocaust !!
your post 28th October 2013, 8:31 p.m.
Do you think everyone reading Prof.Falk’s blog is an idiot?
Your reference of the Haplogroups is some sort of “wanting to put readers into a box and close it” !
What does such a genealogy research tell us? It tells that at this and that time people lived at one place and spread into the world. Not more not less.
I have read different reports – usually carried out on behalf of Jewish Groups and therefore only one aim – and wonder why Jewish Israelis are so eager to make a “proof out of it”.
At ancient times there lived different groups on different areas in the Middle East.
To try to trace and build upon it some archaelogical and genetical results will not proof anything except as I wrote that people lived there.
Some people of different groups longer, some went to other countries.
This is quite normal for any population. And traces of different groups coming from here and there is too quite normal procedere.
It doesn’t proof anything. That in certain areas people have more mixed and in other areas less is too quite normal.
To trace “Jewishness” to a “special sort of people” is the main aim of such researches.
As are archaeological “discoveries” within Israels (and Palestinians) areas.
To try to trace “Jews” as being people “chosen by God” does certainly not fit into our times.
As neither God nor its nonexistence has any proof.
And in the light of our universe with its huge amount of stars and therefore planets and therefore living creatures and surely some of it maybe more or less intelligent as our species are should in our times quite a normal way of thinking.
To trace and put findings into correlation of a certain religion with its religious books written later in time however claiming this or that before it has been written can point only to one thing: informations had been gathered from other sources and somehow manipulated to instill religious preferences.
An intelligent individual like you Mr. Skolnik should be aware that people will look at this case much more differently and take this kind of “findings” never as a proof that a special group of people believing in a special religion and because it had been written between four- and threehundred years BC that those people have been “chosen by God” and therefore Jewish = Believers of Mosaic Religion are entitled to a specific area as long as that area exists (climate change could change it).
Speaking to biologicists carrying out genetical research is another point.
PS: By the way: Egyptian history only wrote about “Israelites” once in its (lots of) papyrii. Egyptologists tell us. And especially Pharaonic Egypt (and even under the rule of other MiddleEastern big rulers) counts (even if more papyrii mentioning “Israel” or “Israelites” would be found) in the light that ancient Egypt would have had a great interest about this area as it was within the Egyptian controlled borders for hundreds of years. So far so good.
You still don’t understand that Israel’s claims to sovereignty in the Land of Israel have nothing to do with religion or being chosen by God. I am not going to explain this to you again. You are building arguments on the basis of a misconception.
so on what basics ??
The historical fact that the Land of Israel was the birthplace of the Jewish people where their spiritual, religious, political and sovereign identity was shaped. You don’t need the Bible to tell you that the Romans conquered a sovereign Jewish nation or that the Bible itself, whatever you think of it, was created by the Jews in the Land of Israel along with other literary works that reflect a long-standing cultural and political history there.
All settlers should vacate the lands they stole, pay compensation then leave immediately for their promised homeland of … Birobidjan.
If they simply cannot get along with other people, then they need to be on an island by themselves where they will feel safe and will not be able to attack others.
The big error wasn’t really in having Jews isolated in one place, but in giving SETTLERS land belonging to others, in order to ultimately use them to gain control over oil resources.
There must be an isolated island somewhere where they could have all the settlements they want without stealing land and resources from others.
The plan…do you have that to outline? You know how to do it, and you know what must be done? Legitimately, and just do what has to be done.
your post contradicts your own writings.
And taking into account the “basics” you wrote – oh my …oh my..
Please do not let yourself get so worked up over Fred’s hasbara postings. He is here only to provoke, and denigrate Richard, and whoever else might have issues with Israeli policies toward Palestinians.
Do not let him provoke you. Best just to ignore him, and he may fade away.
I am aware of that, however, as we can read his own posts those discredit himself.
As an interesting point is to notice that he doesn’t even recognize that.
There is only one solution to that: it is Church ministry and Baptism in God’s Spirit by free fall of the presence. There is no other, unless he can respond to the dictates of his conscience, meaning–he is just bewitched by haresy. (Generational sins against the Law and Spirit of God).
I am accountable to be as truthful about that as it is possible for me.
I am amazed with the move of the Spirit, especially trough you. I never had touch of communion with prophetic anointing like this; it is just most excellent.
Since this woman died and I have come to find out that she did, I was deeply disturbed in my spirit.
She left us a message; she was a prophet. She was saying things about country (former Yugoslavia). Does anyone know what exactly happened?
I know this: they always imprison that what they hate: prophets.
hyperlink or newsletter service. Do you’ve any?

References: v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v.