Palestine/Israel - Principles for a Just Peace

January 2007

By Irish Commission for Justice and Social Affairs (ICJSA)

Abstract

“The State of Israel has to be able to exist peacefully in conformity with the norms of international law and the Palestinian people have to be able to develop serenely their own democratic institutions for a free and prosperous future”. (Pope Benedict XVI)

Never far from the surface of the Israel/Palestine conflict is the issue as to which should take priority, namely security considerations or the rule of law and the protection of human rights. In this context, it is appropriate to be reminded of an important international protocol that sets limits to the legitimate use of force by an occupying power.The 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention, which relates to the protection of civilians in wartime, is the primary legal document governing the Occupied Palestinian Territories.Under this convention civilians are given special protection in a number of areas. For example, Article 3 explicitly prohibits violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds,mutilation, cruel treatment and torture. Article 27 guarantees respect for persons, their honour, their family rights, their religious convictions and practices and their manners and customs. Finally, Article 147 explicitly prohibits amongst other things, the unlawful deportation or transfer or imprisonment of persons and the extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity.12 Just as the possibility of peace hinges on an end to wanton terror so also does it hinge on a full acceptance of the appropriateness of this protocol as a means of regulating the use of state power in the Occupied Territories. For Palestinians, Israel’s refusal to recognise the applicability of the Fourth Geneva Convention to the situation in the West Bank and Gaza alongside the continued use of collective punishment, detention without trial and extra-judicial killings is a matter of the deepest concern.

The conclusions of this paper were signalled at the outset in the passage quoted from the 2002 report of the Catholic Bishops of North America and Europe, namely that only a just peace with the Palestinians will offer security to Israel and release its people from the weight of anxiety that hangs on them. Unfortunately, the situation in the intervening four years has if anything exacerbated the conflict.

We can only reiterate that a just compromise – and a solution is always going to be a compromise between conflicting series of rights – will only be found if and when the needs of the weak take priority over the wants of the powerful and both sides have the courage and the far-sightedness to hear the other’s voice and to recognise each other’s rights.

In the face of the tragic cycle of violence in the Middle East we call on the international community to continue in its efforts, hearing both ‘voices’, to help broker a workable peace that acknowledges the rights of all sides in the conflict. We also call on all people of goodwill to respond to Pope Benedict XVI’s urgent appeal for faithful and persistent prayers for peace:

“May the Lord illuminate hearts and may no one evade their duty to construct peaceful coexistence, recognising that all [persons] are brothers [and sisters], whatever the people to which they belong.”

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