9 September 2014
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voiced his alarm at the announcement by Israeli authorities to declare nearly 1,000 acres of land in Bethlehem as so-called ‘state land’. (more…)
Source: UN News Centre | Ban alarmed at Israel's announced seizure of West Bank land
6 May 2013
On 22 March, the Versailles Court of Appeal ruled that international humanitarian law does not create direct obligations for a private company involved in a tramway building project in Jerusalem. The lawsuit was initiated in 2007 against the French company Alstom for violations of international law on the basis that the company provided equipment for a tramway building project in Jerusalem, supervised by the State of Israel. Alstom signed a concession contract with Israel. The Court considered that the Fourth Geneva Convention 1949, Additional Protocol 1 to Geneva Conventions, the Hague regulations and the Hague Convention do not create direct obligations that may be placed upon private companies. The Court also held that, supposing that the Israel’s litigious concession contract constituted a violation of international law, this violation would not invalidate the contract (because the contract is governed by Israeli law and not by the French Civil Code).
Source: Cour D'appel de Versailles | Association France-Palestine Solidarite “AFPS” C/ Societe Alstom Transport SA | Code nac: 59A | 3ème chambre | R.G. N° 11/05331 | 22 Mars 2013 (in French)
Source: Rights as Usual | Backtracking on Responsibility: French Court Absolves Veolia for Unlawful Railway Construction in Occupied Territory
31 October 2012
A consortium of 22 European non-governmental organisations (NGO’s) published a report on 30 October 2012, entitled: Trading Away Peace: How Europe helps sustain illegal Israeli settlements.
This report concludes that while the European Union (EU) consistently condemns Israel’s settlement policy, and defines Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories as being illegal under international law, EU policies help sustain Israeli settlements because of (heavy) trade with these settlements. The report recommends concrete measures that individual member states or the EU can take in order to make sure their policies do not (in)directly support settlements.
Source: The Guardian | EU urged to re-think trade deals with Israeli settlements in West Bank
Source: Der Spiegel | Activists Seek Ban on Trade with Israeli Settlers
Source: Report | Trading Away Peace: How Europe helps sustain illegal Israeli settlements
28 October 2012
The New York Times reports that the Sudanese government accused Israel of an attack that destroyed a weapons factory in the Sudanese capital Khartoum. Israel denied nor confirmed the accusations, but senior Israeli officials spoke about Sudan’s role in what they said was a weapons route leading from Iran via the Sinai desert to the Palestinian militant groups in Gaza and Lebanon.
Source: The New York Times | Official Silence in Israel Over Sudan’s Accusations of Air Attack
19 April 2012
On April 18 the US Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the family of an American citizen killed during a visit to the West Bank may not sue the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization under the 1991 Torture Victim Protection Act.
The case was brought by the family of Azzam Rahim, a naturalized American citizen. According to their lawsuit, Mr. Rahim was arrested by intelligence officers of the Palestinian Authority during a 1995 visit to the West Bank. The officers took him to a prison in Jericho, where he was tortured and killed.
Justice Sotomayor recognized that it is sometimes hard to identify those who torture and kill on behalf of organizations, much less to find them, sue them and collect damages. However, she wrote that the limits in the law were a product of deliberate choices by Congress.
Source: New York Times | Justices Limit Suits Under Law on Torture