An Auschwitz Survivor speaks about Palestine

[Spider Jerusalem]

32. A few salient points absent from that:

The armed resistance of the Palestinians to Israeli occupation arises principally, over the past decade, from the pointed refusal of the Israeli government to freeze settlement expansion and withdraw from settlements in the occupied territories. (Which is in violation of international law.)

If Israel wanted peace? They could withdraw from the settlements and stop building new ones. They haven't and show no intention of so doing.

14 years old and sadly still very relevant, here:

...in international law, Palestinian resistance to occupation is a legally protected right. For 33 years (NB: now 47 years), Israel has administered a military occupation of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem in consistent and relentless defiance of the overwhelming will of the organized international community. The international consensus has been expressed through widely supported resolutions passed by the Security Council and the General Assembly of the United Nations (hereafter UNSC and UNGA). UN Resolutions 242 and 338 affirmed the legal obligation of Israel to withdraw from Palestinian territories obtained in the 1967 Six Day War. This must be the end point of any peace process that can bring lasting peace. Until such time as Israel respects this obligation, the relevant principles of international law are contained in the Fourth Geneva Convention concerning the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (August 12, 1949), in particular those provisions of the Convention that require an occupying power to protect the status quo, human rights and prospects for self-determination of the occupied people, and oblige all signatories to enforce the Convention in the face of "grave breaches." Since 1967 and during the current uprising, Israel has refused to accept this framework of legal obligations. Its refusal has been pronounced, blatant and undisguised. Not onl¥ has Israel failed to withdraw from the Occupied Territories, during the occupation Israel has "created facts" -- heavily armed settlements, bypass roads and security zones in the midst of a future Palestinian state -- that seriously compromise basic Palestinian rights.

As long as Israel maintains its occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, it is bound to respect the fundamental human rights of the Palestinian people under the Fourth Geneva Convention (Geneva IV). Geneva IV imposes an underlying obligation on an occupying power to protect the civilian population as specified in considerable detail in Articles 47-78. Of particular importance is Article 47 that affirms "the inviolability of rights" granted to the civilian population that can in no circumstances be suspended or evaded. Article 49 has been interpreted as prohibiting both forced deportations of Palestinians and population transfers of the sort associated with the establishment and continuous expansion of Israeli settlements. Article 50 imposes a special burden on the occupying power to protect children from the effects of war and accompanying hardships. The international community has a duty to take steps, in accordance with Article 1 of Geneva IV, to secure Israeli compliance with the relevant provisions of international humanitarian law. The language of Article 1 is clear: "The High Contracting Parties [that is, the governments of all major states] undertake to respect and to ensure respect for the present Convention in all circumstances."

Israel has contested the application of Geneva IV on the grounds that it has claims to the Palestinian territories, and that since their legal status is not fully established, it is not an instance of "belligerent occupation." As a result, Israel claims not to be formally bound by international humanitarian law. Although, with considerable ambiguity, Israeli officials have periodically acknowledged a willingness to abide by Geneva IV on a discretionary and de facto basis, Israeli government behavior has failed to exhibit a comparable willingness and capacity to act in compliance. The UN has consistently refused to be diverted by this obfuscating tactic. As recently as October 7, 2000 in UNSC Resolution 1322, adopted by a vote of 14-0, with the US abstaining, the UN "called upon Israel to abide scrupulously by its legal obligations and its responsibilities" under Geneva IV.

http://www.merip.org/mer/mer217/international-law-al-aqsa-intifada