Opinions of Peter Belmont
Speaking Truth to Power
| Rights of Israeli civilians to visit occupied territories |
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by Peter A. Belmont / 2011-09-19
Because, contrary to international law, Israel has transferred portions of its citizenry to occupied territories (presently: West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights) as permanent residents, the question of the legality of visits (day visits, for example) by Israeli citizens has not been widely discussed. If I’m Right If I am right, then, if all settlers were repatriated to Israel (into its pre-1967 territory), no Israeli except on-duty soldiers would have the legal right to be present in any occupied territory and all visits by Israels would be expected to cease. Israelis of Palestinian-Arab background could not visit their relatives living in occupied territories. On the positive side, this means that no (in such case, former) settlers would be legally entitled to visit, not even for the day. No armed hooligans would have a legal right to visit, even for an hour. On the negative side, no Israeli peaceniks would have a legal right to visit—and couldn’t take part in peaceful demonstrations against the wall, for example. Similarly, no Israeli newspeople could visit. Relatives could not visit relatives. Is there a good solution to this problem? Yes, but not one which anyone would expect Israel to go along with. The Palestinians (or Syrian) government of any particular occupied territory could grant entry visas to persons it was willing to receive as visitors, and could (somehow) enforce its rules, allowing some Israelis (and non-Israelis!) to visit, and excluding all others. If I’m Wrong, or if Israel Ignores the Law If the law allows visits by citizens of the occupier (other than on-duty soldiers) to occupied territory, or, which comes to the same thing, if the occupier ignores the law, then one would expect visits by Israeli citizens to occupied lands, to the extent allowed by Israel. This might nor might not include allowing peaceniks and reporters—depends on what Israel would decide to allow. But it might very well result in Israeli hooligans, terrorists, and pogromists visiting occupied territory—some of the same people who today are allowed to reside permanently in occupied territory. And if Israel allowed them in, it would presumably order the army to safeguard them, so that Palestinians (and Golani Syrians) would have no easy way to protect themselves from them or to exclude them. In the unlikely event that the international community exercised itself sufficiently to compel Israel to remove all settlers from residency in all occupied territories, these issues of the legality of visitation would present themselves and would acquire their own importance. |
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