2. COLLECTIVE PUNISHMENT
"No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed."
The UN Security Council, the UN General Assembly, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the International Court of Justice affirm that the Fourth Geneva Convention applies to Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
(A) Economic blockade of Gaza
Since 2007 Israel, with collaboration from Egypt, has maintained a land, air, and sea blockade on the Gaza Strip. The ensuing deterioration of humanitarian conditions has led the United Nations to claim in a 2012 report that Gaza will not be "liveable" by 2020, and report last year that Gaza is already becoming uninhabitable. The Palmer Report by a 2011 UN Panel of Inquiry found that the land blockade was a "significant cause" of this unsustainable humanitarian crisis. Irrespective of where aid is channeled, the blockade on goods renders the Gazan economy "unviable", encaging 1.8 million people - of which 40% are under 15 years old - in rapidly accumulating misery.
A Fact-Finding Mission for the UN Human Rights Council chaired by a former judge of the International Criminal Court, as well as a panel of five independent U.N. rights experts, have concluded that the blockade constitutes collective punishment of the population of Gaza and is therefore unlawful.
International Committee of the Red Cross:
“The whole of Gaza's civilian population is being punished for acts for which they bear no responsibility. The [blockade] therefore constitutes a collective punishment imposed in clear violation of Israel's obligations under international humanitarian law.”
(B) Israeli military operations against occupied territory
Israel maintains effective control of the Gaza Strip and thus remains the occupying power as defined by Article 47 of the Hague Regulations. Under Occupation Law, Israel is responsible for protecting the welfare of the population under its control. Instead Israel has waged asymmetric warfare against its own besieged territory.
Israel’s recent assaults on the Gaza Strip failed to uphold the duty of distinction, resulting in indiscriminate devastation and a 50-70% civilian casualty rate. This past summer Operation Protective Edge killed 2,104 Palestinians and injured over 10,000. Israeli forces shelled UN shelters seven times. In Operation Cast Lead (2008-9), the Israeli military killed 1,391 Palestinians with a civilian casualty rate of 70%. Israeli forces unlawfully used white phosphorus munitions in densely populated areas, including the main UN Relief and Works Agency compound and Al Quds Hospital, which Human Rights Watch and the Goldstone Report considered potential evidence of "war crimes".
These disproportionate Israeli military responses exact a collective penalty upon the most vulnerable Palestinians. 92% of Gaza adolescents reported symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in the aftermath of Cast Lead. In the past fifteen years, 2,026 Palestinian children have been killed by Israeli forces.
(C) Punitive home demolition and land confiscation
The Israeli practice of destroying the family homes of Palestinian suspects is in direct violation of the prohibition on collective punishment. Even Vice President Joe Biden recently deplored this policy as "collective punishment" in a speech at the Saban Forum.
Israel has demolished ~27,000 Palestinian homes since 1967, including 3,540 during Operation Cast Lead. Since 1967, Israel has confiscated 750,000 acres of Palestinian land - half of the total area of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Israel has demolished ~27,000 Palestinian homes since 1967, including 3,540 during Operation Cast Lead. Since 1967, Israel has confiscated 750,000 acres of Palestinian land - half of the total area of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Implicated Companies:
- Provide military support and weaponry to facilitate operations in the occupied territories
- Profit from Israeli confiscation of Palestinian land and Israeli demolition of Palestinian homes.
Lockheed Martin:
As the single largest overseas arms supplier to the Israeli military, it receives billions of dollars for supplying military equipment, including missile systems and fighter jets. Caterpillar: Manufactures bulldozers (D9) and provides civil engineering tools that are used to demolish Palestinian homes and serve as armor in IDF military incursions. |