Israel-Palestine: For Human Values in the Absence of a Just Peace

Israel-Palestine: For Human Values in the Absence of a Just Peace The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, adopted by the United Nations in 1966 and submitted to member states for ratification, transformed the provisions of the UDHR into binding international law.xxxi Both treaties set forth in their first articles a collective right to self-determination, by virtue of which a people have the right to “freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.”xxxii The emphasis on the right to self-determination in 1966 reflected the colonial past of newly independent member states, and their lived experience that human dignity and fundamental freedoms cannot flourish unless a people have the right to choose the sovereignty under which they shall live.xxxiii Many other aspects of international law have a central role in the analysis and recommendations of this report. Annex A summarizes some salient points. B. Facts on the Ground All persons need to become better educated about the complexities of history, land, economics, and politics of the situation in Palestine, because disagreements about the facts on the ground and ignorance of those facts are used to promote political ends that cause or exacerbate suffering. This section offers a primer on these topics, with references for further study. The complexities neither relieve us from the responsibilities of engaging in Israel-Palestine nor justify delaying the pursuit of our responsibilities. Part A of this section provides basic information about how the parts the IsraeliPalestinian territory differ in their legal and practical status. Part B describes what has happened since the Oslo Accords in 1993, particularly concerning the “permanent status issues” identified at Oslo. 1. The Categories of Territories. The region commonly known as Israel-Palestine comprises several sub-territories, over which the State of Israel, the Palestine Authority, and Hamas have claims (often competing) and within which the State of Israel controls most of the functions of a state: -State of Israel: The pre-1967 territory of the State of Israel has borders recognized internationally and by the Palestinian Authority. Israel itself, however, has not stated its official borders, and on maps issued by the government (Ministry of

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